High School Love
by castlet0pia
Summary: What happens when the new kid comes to school and falls in love with Kate Beckett? This story is happening in present time, so you won't be confused. And yeah, the chapters are actually named after some pieces of lyrics from random but beautiful songs.
1. Chapter 1

**So I'm new here and this is my first fanfic I've published. I'd really like to get your opinion on the story, which came to me out of the blue. The story is also inspired by some fanfics I've read here that put the characters in the world of high school. **

**Disclaimer: Yeah, Castle's not mine. **

**CHAPTER 1: IF YOU HADN'T FOUND ME, I WOULD HAVE FOUND YOU**

Lanie Parish stepped out of the car, said goodbye to her mother and walked over to the steps in front of the school. There was a chaos around her. Everybody was laughing and people – mostly guys – were running around, some of them were playing football and the others were the girls with fancy clothes and lipsticks in their purses, also known as the cheerleading squad. Lanie frowned when she saw their new choreography and turned away, towards the street. What she saw made her smile again. Her best friend Kate Beckett was walking towards her and all the guys were checking her out. Even though Kate wasn't a cheerleader, she was sometimes more popular than them. She had gorgeous brown locks and a perfect body. But what mattered the most to Lanie was that she wasn't just physically beautiful, but she had an amazing personality, too. She was way better than those barbie girls from the cheer squad and that was exactly the reason why the head cheerleader hated her so much. Madison Doley was a typical cheerleader. She had blonde hair and wore skirts and close-fitting shirts with such cleavage that it made boys go crazy. She was attractive, yes, Lanie had to admit that, but she could never compare to her best friend.

Just then, Kate hugged her tight and said 'I've missed you.' Lanie smiled and hugged her back. 'I missed you too, girl. How was in Paris?' Kate let go and smiled widely. 'It was awesome. Cute guys, but no one that I'd be interested in too much.' Lanie slapped her arm playfuly and asked, 'Oh come one Kate, you were in the most romantic city in the world. How come you weren't interested in anyone?' Kate shrugged and watched the cheerleading squad and their new choreography. She laughed and pulled Lanie in the school hallway. They got to their lockers in no time and Kate snorted, 'They're even more horrible than last year.' Lanie grinned and nodded. They put some stuff in their lockers while chatting about Kate's trip and turned around, trying to go to their class, only to see Madison standing there, arms crossed over her chest with the two of her cheer-dolls, Gina and Meredith. Madison's eyes looked literally evil when she spoke up, 'I heard Kate Beckett and Josh Davidson were dating and I just couldn't believe it.' Kate rolled her eyes and shot back, 'We're not dating, Madison. We went to the movies once over the summer and nothing happened, so you may as well get your mind out of the gutter. He's all yours if you want him.' She slammed her locker shut and grabbed Lanie by the wrist, 'Come on, Lanie. We have a class to go to.' They stepped around them and went to the end of the hall in class 1B. Most of their schoolmates were already there, sitting on the tables laughing about the things that happened this summer or standing by the windows and making out with each other, but the most important people for Lanie and Kate were at the back of the class talking about baseball. They stopped talking when they saw them, though. One of them, the Latino guy, hugged Lanie first and whispered in her ear, 'Looking lovely as always, Miss Lanie Parish.' She stepped back and grinned. 'It's good to see you too, Mr Javier Esposito.' Kate, who just finished hugging Kevin Ryan, Javi's best friend, turned to Lanie and hissed, 'Why aren't you two together already?' Lanie just laguhed and sat down in her seat behind Javier's with a smile on her face. Kate shook her head and sat down next to Lanie. The bell rang just as Kate was telling Lanie about a guy who was hitting on her on the plane and a tall man in a gray suit entered the class. Mr Watson, also known as The Eagle among the students, dropped some papers on his desk and clasped his hands behind his back. 'Well, good morning to all of you. As you know, today is the first day of school for you sophomores. I expect nothing but good grades and and exemplary behaviour.' Someone next to Kevin snorted and Mr Watson narrowed his eyes at him. 'Mr Hull, if you think that you'll continue this year with the same attitude as the previous one, I sincerely recommend that you find another school where they tolerate that.' The guy mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'Yeah, right, asshole' and looked out of the window. If Mr Watson heard him say it, he chose to ignore it, because he unclasped his hands and wrote '4.14' on the board with the chalk he pulled out of the drawer. 'This,' he explained when the chorus of 'What's that mean' echoed through the classroom, 'is the average of your grades from last year. I was quite impressed myself when I found out about it.' he added when some of the students actually gasped. Obviously no one expected their class to be so good after everything that happened last semester. Their celebration was interrupted with a knock on the door. Mr Watson smiled and said, 'Come in!' The door opened and a guy with a backpack hanging on his right shoulder came in. He immediately got Kate's attention. He was quite tall and slim, dressed casually in brown shorts and a blue shirt that brought out his blue eyes and he had short, but stylish brown hair. He smiled nervously and shook Mr Watson's hand while apoligizing, 'I'm really sorry I'm late, I got kind of lost.' Mr Watson waved him off as if saying 'don't worry' and said, 'Not a problem, young man. Go ahead and take a seat next to Mr Esposito in the back, please. We will discuss about your schedule later.' The guy turned to walk to his seat and while doing just that, noticed Kate looking at him. She immediately looked away and he saw a blush rising up her cheeks. He smirked and sat down next to Javier. Mr Watson raised his voice to calm down the students who were whispering to each other and everyone became quiet again. 'This is your new schoolmate. His name is Richard Alexander Rodgers and he came here from Long Beach. He's a very good student, based on his records.' The new kid kept his smile on his face, but then grinned when he shook hands with Javi. 'Hey man, I'm Javier Esposito, you can call me Javi, and this is Kevin Ryan.' He shook hands with Kev too and then with Lanie. He looked at Kate while Mr Watson was reading the school rules and extended his hand to her. She smiled back and shook his hand. 'Hi. I'm Rick.' She laughed and said, 'So I've heard. I'm Kate. Kate Beckett.' Rick grinned and squeezed her hand. 'Nice to meet you, Kate.' When they didn't let go of their hands, just stared at each other, they heard Frankie Hull say, 'Get a room already.' Kate blushed again and dropped her hand. Lanie smirked and leaned in to sing-song into Kate's ear, 'Girl, you like him.' Kate huffed and leaned back in her chair. 'I do not.' she denied and looked at Rick again. _'Liar.' _she heard Lanie say, which caused her to roll her eyes.

But Kate obviously wasn't the only one who noticed how attractive Rick Rodgers really was. She saw Madison eyeing him and basically stripping him with her eyes while he was listening to Mr Watson pointing out the flaws of the school system. When he leaned towards Javi and said something to him that Kate couldn't hear, Madison threw a piece of paper on his desk. When Rick looked down and saw the paper, he furrowed his eyebrows and unfolded it. He smiled at whatever was written there and looked at Madison. She arched her back a little and tried to look as sexy as she could when she waved at him. He asked Javi for a pen and then wrote something on the paper. When he finished, he threw the folded piece of paper back to Madison and looked back at Kate. He caught her staring and smiled to her, but it was a different kind of smile than the one he gave to Madison. She smiled back and turned to look at her best friend. Lanie was giving Javier the look that meant that she was totally in love with him and he was looking back at her with the same expression on his face. Kate just smiled at the two of them and turned back to see Madison grinning at Rick. He wasn't paying attention to the cheerleaders, like Kate thought he would. He was writing in some sort of notebook, occasionally looking up at Mr Watson. The rest of the class went by pretty quick and everyone stormed out when the bell rang, but not Javier, Kevin, Lanie, Kate and Rick. Javi and Kevin laughed at something Rick said and Lanie pulled Kate out of the classroom. 'Oh my God, you're totally hot for the new kid!' Lanie said as soon as they were out of Rick's earshot. Kate laughed and shook her head, 'No, Lanie. I mean, he is cute, but…' She was interrupted by Lanie squealing, 'I knew it! I knew it! Girl, you gotta tell him!' Kate shushed her with a hand over her mouth and hissed, 'Shut up, Lanie. I'm not going to tell him anything, OK? I mean, he's probably like every other guy. Did you see Madison and the way she was looking at him? They've probably already planned a date.' Lanie slapped her hand off her mouth. 'You jealous?' Kate huffed. 'Me? Jealous? No way, Lanie.' Lanie raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth to say something, when the guys came out of the classroom. They were all laughing and Kev was talking on the phone. 'Yeah, sure Madison, don't worry. We'll get him there.' He hang up and the three started laughing again, but they stopped when they saw Kate and Lanie. Rick ran a hand through his hair and looked at Kate. She just rolled her eyes and walked away. He was confused because he didn't know why she was acting the way she was, but he got his answer when Lanie spoke up, 'Great job, boys. A guy comes into the class and it's the first one Kate likes after Josh, but you have to go and set him up with Madison. Really, I'm proud of you.' Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and her hands were on her hips. Rick thought she looked kind of scary, but then he focused on something he heard her say. 'Wait, what? She said she likes me?' Lanie threw her arms into the air and said matter-of-factly, 'Of course, are you blind? Didn't you see the way she was looking at you?' When he just stood there shell-shocked, she rolled her eyes and gave up, 'Oh, forget it, you blew it already anyways.' She tried to go after Kate, but Javier grabbed her arm and spinned her back in front of them. 'What did you say, chica? How come he blew it? Why? Because of Madison?' Lanie tried not to stare at Javi's lips and nodded. He laughed suddenly and explained it to her, 'We were just joking around about bringing Rick to the park tonight. We wanted to make her wait on him, but he'd never show up. He said he heard rumors in his old school about the head cheerleader here and what she's like. He's not interested in her, so Kate's got nothing to worry about.' Lanie gaped at him and ran towards Kate who was by the lockers texting someone. When she heard someone scream her name, she looked up and saw Lanie rushing over to her. She closed her locker and crossed her arms. 'What's up, Lanie?'

'Kate, he's not into her.'

'Who's not into who?'

'It's whom, actually,' came the voice from behind Lanie. Lanie turned around and saw Rick leaning against the lockers and grinning. Kate rolled her eyes again and stepped a bit closer to him.

'Lanie, could you leave us alone for a minute, please?' Lanie sighed and mumbled to herself, 'So adorable,' and then walked back to Javi and Kev. When Kate looked back to Rick, she found him grinning at her like an idiot. He put his hands in his pockets and explained the whole situation to her himself. 'I'm not interested in Madison. I've heard rumors about her at the old school. I don't like her. Not at all. She wanted to meet me at the park, yeah, but I won't go. We just wanted to make her wait and see how it feels.' When Kate didn't say anything, just stared at him with one eyebrow raised, he let out a long breath and moved a bit closer. 'I know it's not really great. The thing we're doing. But I don't want to go out with her either. And if I said no, she'd start spreading rumors about me immediately. Probably lots of bad stuff and all. I figured this way, I'll at least have the opportunity to let people see me for who I am without those rumors. Even if it's just for a day. I want at least that much. I'm sorry.' When she looked at the floor, he tried again, 'Can you forgive me for being an asshole and talk to me, please?' She looked up at him and saw him making a puppy dog face. She smiled at first and then laughed. He grinned at her when she put him out of his misery, 'Apology accepted.' They went back to their friends and they started walking towards their next class, when Rick remembered, 'Shit, I was supposed to meet Mr Watson for my schedule.' Kev directed him to Mr Watson's office and Rick said goodbye to everyone then, with one final look at Kate, ran towards the office.

They were having a biology class; Lanie's favorite subject. Madison was talking to Gina about shoes, Frankie Hull was picking his nose, Paul Courtley had earbuds in his ears and was listening to something on his iPod, Javi and Kev were talking about Halo, Josh Davidson aka the most popular guy at the school was chewing and checking Kate out, while Lanie was eagerly listening and taking notes about everything Miss Kershey was saying and Kate was waiting for Rick to come. When the doors finally opened and Rick walked in, he excused himself and Miss Kershey let him off. He scanned the classroom for Kate and the gang, but all the seats around them were already taken. The only seat left was the one by the window in front of Madison. He sighed, smiled apologetically to Kate and then shuffled towards the empty chair. When he sat down, he didn't waste any time, but looked towards Kate instantly. He saw she had a small frown on her face and he wondered if it was because of him. He was pulled out of his thoughts when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw that Madison was leaning forward in her chair, licking her lips and she whispered to him, 'I can't wait until 7 PM. Meet me in the hallway after the class.' She winked at him and he tried to smile as much as he could, while everything in him was desperately wishing that he could sit next to Kate and just forget about Madison. He turned around in his seat, so that he was facing Miss Kershey again. He ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook and wrote 'HELP' on it. He folded it and threw it at Kate when Madison was too busy looking at her boobs and Miss Kershey wasn't looking. The paper hit Kate in the leg and she looked up from her book to look at him. He smiled and looked down to the paper lying next to her leg and then back up to her. She furrowed her brows and looked down. She picked it up and unfolded it. He knew when she read it because she stiffled a laugh and put her hand over her mouth. Then she looked at him and grinned. He grinned back at her as she mouthed 'You wish'. He nodded and noticed her biting her lower lip, which was incredibly hot. He looked away when he saw Lanie smirking at him and tried to focus on biology and not on the way Kate's eyes shone when she smiled. He smiled to himself and started writing in his notebook. When the bell rang and all of the students stood up, he felt someone grab his ass and whisper in his ear, 'Come quick.' Then he felt that same someone lick his ear and bite his earlobe and then he saw Madison smiling wickedly at him and walking out of the class. He wiped his ear with his sleeve and then ran to Kate, when she tried to go out of the door. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back in the class. She tried to protest, but he put a hand over her mouth, while keeping the other one on her upper arm. He looked in the hallway through the closed door and then back at her. She had one eyebrow raised and she was standing really close to him. When he realized what he was doing he let her go and stepped back just a bit. She smiled teasingly and recomended, 'You better have a good excuse for that.' He smiled sheepishly at her and then explained himself, 'She wants to jump me in the hallway, she almost bit my ear off.' He shuddered at the memory, but not because it would be a good one. Kate just laughed, took his hand in hers and opened the door. 'Come on,' she said and tugged him after her when he didn't move. They ran out of the classroom and down the hallway, passed Madison, Gina and Meredith at the lockers and they didn't stop until they got to the gym. Kate laughed with him for a while and then let go of his hand. They both instantly missed the warmth of each other's hands, but decided not to comment on it. Kate led him to the man's changing room and then told him, 'I suppose we have the same schedule if you're in our class, so you have PE now.' Then she grinned at him and walked away to another door which led to the women's changing room.

When he got into the gym with Javi and Kev, they were talking about how James Gibson had beaten up some poor guy from India last year. Rick wanted to ask Javier and Kev if the girls have PE with them, but he remained speechless when Kate ran past him into the gym. She was dressed in black shorts and a green t-shirt that was a tight-fit and emphasized her curves. He stopped in his tracks and stared at her, checking her out like every other guy in the gym except Javi and Kev, who were like her brothers. They simultanously slapped Rick at the back of his head and ran towards Kate who was now talking with Lanie. Rick snapped out of it when he felt her eyes on him and saw her smirk, then start warming up. He started to walk towards her, when someone bumped his shoulder. He looked at the guy with black hair and a Harley Davidson t-shirt. He recognized him as Josh Davidson; the guy who Kate went out with in the summer. He felt a pang of jealousy and walked over to the gang, all the while keeping his eyes on Josh. He turned to look at Kate when she pulled him aside. His face lit up when he saw her smiling at him and he smiled back.

'I'm sorry. He can be such a jerk sometimes. Just..leave him be, okay?' She grabbed his hand and he nodded. She squeezed it and then walked back to Lanie and finished warming up.

The sound of the whistle made him look away from Kate, only to see a tall, big man standing in the middle of the gym. He had short black hair and a tattoo on his left arm. When he spoke, his voice was deep and Rick wasn't quite sure if he was going to like PE as much as he thought he would. 'So, I heard we have some fresh meat, huh? Richard Alexander Rodgers? Who's that?' Rick raised his hand and said, 'That's me, sir.' The man in black looked him up and down and then came closer to him. He read something in his notebook and then finally spoke up, 'Not bad, Mr Rodgers. You were the top of the class in PE back at your old school. Running, football, baseball, basketball and so on…You have a really good potential there, big guy. How about you come to my office after school ends today and we'll talk about getting you into the basketball or baseball team?' He finished with a smile on his face and Rick smiled back. 'That'd be great, thanks.' The man ruffled Rick's hair and walked to the corner of the gym while Javi and Kev whispered to him, 'That's awesome, man.' He looked at Kate and saw her smirking. When everybody turned towards the man, she stepped closer to him. 'Mr Cash doesn't like 'fresh meat' like he calls you guys, but he seems to like you. That's a privilege…Big guy,' she said and laughed lightly at his expression. He rolled his eyes and turned towards Mr Cash, who spoke up, 'Now, I know it's only the first period of PE in this school year, but you're gonna do some running. 3 laps in the gym.' Everybody grunted but started to run nonetheless. Rick smirked and suggested to Kate, 'Wanna race?' When he saw her raise an eyebrow, he said, 'The last one who finishes those three laps has to buy a drink to the other. What do you say?' Kate grinned and sprinted away from him. 'Hey, that's called cheating,' he called after her and ran. He caught up with her pretty fast and they slowed down a bit, seeing as they were already way ahead of everyone else. She laughed and ran a little faster. He ran a little faster too, then he shouted, 'You know, I was the best runner back in Long Beach. I don't think anyone's actually faster than me.' He winked at her and she laughed again. 'We'll see about that, Rick.' He was intoxicated by the way she said his name, the way her hips moved when she ran and the way her hair waved around her. He was so caught up in watching her, that he didn't realize she was running faster and faster. He grinned and ran faster too. They were 10 meters in front of the finish line and they were both equally fast. Kate sped up and came to the finish line first. When they stopped, both panting with their hands on their knees, Kate laughed at him breathlessly, stood up and went to him. She placed both hands on her hips and shook her head. 'And here I thought you were fast,' she smirked when he straightened up. He shrugged and grinned at her, then noticed a lock of hair on her face. He stretched out his arm and pushed the offending lock behind her ear. He smiled cockily when he felt her shiver and then he chuckled when she looked at his lips and bit hers. They were lost in each other for a moment, at least until the gang came up to them, all of them breathing hard, trying to force some air into their lungs. Rick took his hand off Kate's jaw and winked at her. She blushed and looked at Lanie who was too busy checking Javier out to even notice Kate's red cheeks. She heard Rick say 'Oh no' and turned around to see Madison making her way towards them. She rolled her eyes and backed off when Madison tried to push her out of the way. When she got to Rick, she grabbed his t-shirt and pulled him to her. Kate gasped when she saw Madison kissing him. Rick didn't even close his eyes, he just tried to pull away from her, but she had a tight grip on him. Kate almost stepped in to rescue him when they heard coach Cash whistle. Only then did she let him go and walked away, back to her squad. Rick quickly wiped his mouth with his t-shirt and said, 'That was just wrong.' He looked at Kate and saw her looking at Madison with fury in her eyes. She started to walk towards her, but he pulled her back, even when she tried to shrug him off. 'Kate,' he said, when she didn't look at him. 'Kate,' he tried again, 'Kate, it meant nothing.' She finally looked at him and nodded. 'I know that. You can let go of me.' He didn't, though. He was worried that she might be angry with him because of what happened, but he banished those thoughts when she smiled at him. He smiled back and removed his hand off her arm. Just then they heard Mr Cash say, 'Girls and boys, today is your lucky day. We're playing basketball, form 3 teams of 6 players, but you have to be mixed, so girls and boys in the teams, please. Kate, you have one team, Josh, you have the other and Frankie, you have the third one. Come on, Kate picks first.' Kate crossed her arms and called Lanie in her team. Josh picked a guy who was as big as coach Cash, maybe even bigger and Frankie picked Kevin. Kate continued and picked Javi, disappointed because Kev was already taken and she couldn't pick him for her team, too. Josh picked another hooligan and Frankie picked Madison, probably only because she told him to. It was Kate's turn to pick again. She looked at Rick and took his hand. He grinned; she'd picked him. Josh, furious because she picked him, as Rick could obviously see, picked Gina and Frankie picked Meredith. It continued that way until Josh had some of the best basketball players in the school in his team and Frankie had almost the whole cheerleader squad while Kate's team was formed of good people, not the most popular people, but the ones who knew what really mattered. The first match was between Kate and Frankie's team. Javi and Kev were jumping and the ball was pushed into Kate's hands. Rick watched her dribble some jerk from Frankie's team and then she passed the ball to Lanie, who immediately passed it to Javi. He tried to take the shot but Frankie stole the ball from him. Rick ran back to try to steal the ball from Frankie and just as Frankie jumped and tried to shoot, he grabbed the ball and ran back to the other side of the court. He passed the ball to Kate who was smiling at him and she tried to deal with Madison who almost hit Kate in the face with her elbow, but Kate succeeded in rushing past her and shooting before being tackled to the gym floor by Madison and Meredith. She grunted as she tried to stood up. She scored 2 points for them, but she took the fall pretty hard, too. Rick ran to her and helped her up. Her knees were a little bruised but otherwise she was grinning because he had his arms around her. 'You can let me stand on my own now, thank you,' she breathed and patted his chest as he let his arms fall down his sides. Madison looked jealous, and so did Josh, but Rick and Kate were both laughing with their team now, happy because Kate also got two free throws. She scored both of them, of course, and the game continued. They played for 9 more minutes before coach Cash whistled the end of the match. Madison and Meredith didn't try anything else after that little stunt they pulled at the beginning of the game, mostly because Frankie told them to not do it again or they'd be sorry. The game was a win for Kate's team. They won with 16-7 and Kevin was relieved to see them win and went to congratulate them as soon as he could. The next match was between Josh and Frankie's team and Frankie didn't win, of course. By the end of the game the score was 30-3 for Josh's team and they only played for a little over 10 minutes. Madison broke her nail and Meredith broke three of them, which made Kate _very_ happy. There was a pause to let Josh's team rest a little before having another match, so Josh clearly used it to go to Kate.

'Seriously? You can not possibly tell me that you've never heard of Kings of Leon before. They're like the best band out there right now,' he told her and she laughed because of his shocked face. 'Well, Rick, not everyone has time for these kinds of things, you know,' she winked at him and took a sip of the water. He grinned, but his smile faltered when he spotted Josh coming over. Kate saw his grimace and asked him, 'What?' When he didn't answer, she turned around and in that exact moment, she felt Josh's lips on hers. She tried to push him away from her, but he had his arms on her hips and was pulling her into him. Rick couldn't believe what he was seeing and he got so jealous that he grabbed Josh's hands and threw them off her body. When he let go of Kate, Rick stepped in front of her and said, 'She's not yours to hold.' Kate was slightly shocked about Rick's reaction and because of Josh's kiss, so she couldn't do anything but touch Rick's shoulder and try to make him back off and not fight with Josh. 'Come on, Rick, don't.' Josh laughed and stepped closer to him. 'Oh, she's mine if I say so.' Now Kate was getting furious too and she took a step forward. 'Let it go, Josh. You never had a chance with me. Walk away.' Josh got angrier and tried to grab Kate again, but Rick pushed him away and stepped in front of Kate again. 'Don't touch her,' Rick warned him, but Josh didn't back off. He fisted his hand and tried to hit Rick, but was stopped by coach Cash. 'What's going on here, guys?' Mr Cash stepped between them and looked from one to another. 'What's…This idiot here tried to steal my girlfriend, that's what's going on.' Coach laughed before Rick or Kate could say something and told him, 'As far as I know, you're not dating Kate. And if she's not okay with you being near her, you are going to respect that. Understood?' Coach Cash was probably the only one who could stop Josh from doing any harm to anyone, because he had as much influence on him as Josh's own father. Josh frowned and walked back to his team. Coach Cash winked at Rick and Kate and then shuffled back to his position at the side of the court. Rick turned around and saw Kate with head tilted to one side and with her hands on her hips. She looked adorable with pursed lips and her hair falling over her shoulders while she was trying not to laugh out loud. He shrugged when she raised an eyebrow and she nodded. The next match between Kate and Josh's team didn't happen because the bell for the end of the class rang. Kate sauntered off towards the showers and Rick couldn't help but stare at her.

When the guys finished with the showers and changed back into their clothes, they went into the school caffetteria. Kevin explained the whole system to Rick, while they were waiting in the line to get their lunch, 'We have lunch break at 10.25, it lasts one hour. After that, we continue with the boring lessons and try not to get caught doing homework in the middle of the class.' He was being sarcastic. They laughed and grabbed a seat at the nearby table. 'Okay, so here's how it goes. North Berkeley High is just like any other high school. Every group has their table here. We have this one. It's cool, but not too cool. Just the way we are,' he said and Javi added, 'Yeah, and we like it.' Rick grinned and said, 'I can imagine.' They dived into the food, but before Rick could take a bite of his sandwich, he saw Kate walk into the canteen. She looked at their table and spotted him looking at her, smiling like an idiot. She shook her head and told Lanie to finally go for it with Javi. She said, 'Not yet,' and they chatted about everything while waiting on their turn to grab lunch. When they sat themselves at their table, Kate was forced to sit really close to Rick, so their thighs and shoulders were brushing, creating a current running through their veins. While they were having small talk and eating, Rick and Kate kept sneaking glances toward eachother and bumping each other's knees. Halfway through lunch, there was a song on the radio that everyone recognized; Aerosmith – I Don't Want to Miss a Thing. Kate started to sing first and Rick was intoxicated by the sound of her voice. She sounded truly like an angel. Lanie joined her and soon all the table was singing. Rick didn't take his eyes off Kate and when she looked up at him, she nearly got lost in the deep blue seas of his irises. When the song was over, everyone was grinning and some of the people in the cafeteria were looking their way. They ignored the curious looks and went outside to take a seat on the grass under a big oak tree. They laughed at Rick's jokes and made fun of Miss Okey, the English teacher who just happened to have 10 cats at home, no husband and no kids. They went to their next class together. It was Maths and Rick was constantly writing something in that notebook of his. Kate, who was sitting next to him, asked him quietly, 'What are you writing all the time?' He stuttered and closed his notebook. 'Um, nothing.' Kate narrowed her eyes at him and whispered. 'Come on, can you at least tell me what's it about if you don't want to show me?' He was just about to tell her that he's writing about her, when Miss Buckerby called his name. He looked up and saw her staring at him. 'Mr Rodgers, your first day at this school and you're already not paying attention? What were we talking about?' 'You were just saying why we should have all the knowledge from last year because this year is not going to be easier, only harder, Miss Buckerby,' he answered, glad that he actually was able to pay attention while Kate was looking at him like that. She sighed and turned back to the board. Rick let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and looked at Kate. She had a guilty expression on her face and she mouthed 'Sorry' to him, which made him smile. When they got out of Maths class they stopped in the hallway and she apologized to him again, 'Oh my God, I'm really sorry, that was my fault.' He waved her off and told her not to worry because he got out of it and she just grinned at him. Last period was English and it was really funny watching Rick answer all of Miss Okey's questions about literature. When Kate and Lanie were by the lockers and the guys were nearby talking with Kyle, who knew everything about baseball, Madison strode purposefully towards Rick and tried to kiss him again, but was stopped by Kate who stepped between them. Madison frowned and tried to push her away. 'Let me get to him, you stupid little bitch.' Rick spoke up, 'Hey, you're not gonna talk about her like that, okay?' Madison stopped and licked her lips. 'Sorry, Ricky. She's just been trying this whole day to make you hate me and I just want you so much.' She was stopped by Kate clasping a hand over her mouth. 'I mean it, Madison. Back off. You've no right to come here and kiss him like you did in the gym.' Madison pushed Kate's hand away from her mouth and looked at Rick. 'Baby, can you tell her to step aside and let me kiss you, please. She can't possibly tell us what to do.' Rick grimaced and tried to pull Kate away from Madison, but she insisted on saying her piece. 'Madison, shut up! He's barely got here and you already want to jump him. Can you not be a whore for at least one day?' Madison gasped and Rick tried to pull Kate away again. 'Kate, stop.' When she didn't want to move, he stepped in front of her and said, 'Kate, I'm going to have to kiss you if you don't stop. Just let it go.' Kate blushed, looked at his lips for a second and groaned. A part of her wanted so much for him to kiss her, but a part of her told her it was too soon for something like that to happen, because they just met a few hours ago. So she stepped back, but not before telling Madison, 'You can't have him.' After that, she left a gaping Rick, Madison, Lanie, Javier and Kevin after her when she took off towards the school entrance. When Madison got herself together, she walked away, too. Rick, Lanie, Javi and Kevin went after Kate and found her outside, talking to someone on the phone. 'Yeah, I'll be home in twenty minutes. Yeah, I know. Okay, see you. Love you too, bye.' Rick got slightly jealous at hearing Kate say 'love you' to someone, but he quickly let it go when Lanie asked her if it was her mother and Kate said yes. 'I need to go home, mom's having a day off and she wants me all to herself.' She rolled her eyes and smiled. She was having a hard time not looking at Rick, but she just couldn't because she was still slightly shocked about everything that had happened with him today. 'Okay girl. See ya tomorrow, then. Have fun and say hello to your mom for me,' Lanie said, hugged her and walked away with Javier and Kevin after they said goodbye to her and Rick. Now that he was the only one left there with her, Kate didn't have a choice but to look at him. He was grinning at her and she rolled her eyes at him. She started walking down the street and he followed her, just like she thought he would. 'Can I walk you home?' She snorted and said, 'That's just so cliché.' Rick laughed and winked at her, 'I know, but still, come on. Let me walk you home?' She stopped in her tracks and looked at him. He actually really was hot. When he smiled, he had a twinkle in his eyes, his whole face was glowing and his hair was rumpled. Kate wanted badly to just run her hands through those hair and she had to physically stop herself from doing it by fisting her hands and pursing her lips. She considered him for a moment, then finally gave up, 'Fine, you can walk me home.' He grinned at her and he had a boyish smile plastered on his face the whole walk to her house. When they got there, she turned towards him and smiled. 'Thanks, Rick. For walking me home and…Everything else.' He smiled at her and held out his hand. She looked at it and nodded, then shook his hand. 'It was a pleasure meeting you.' She laughed at him and said, 'Ditto, Rick.' He let go of her hand and stepped back, letting her stroll towards her door. 'And I really look forward to tomorrow.' He shouted just as she opened the door. She smiled and winked, 'Me too, big guy. Have fun.' Then she shut the door and kicked off her shoes.

Outside, Rick couldn't get rid of the smile on his face. He ran his hand through his hair and walked home.

**So that's the end of chapter one. Chapter two is already written and I'll maybe post it on Tuesday. Please review, I think it'll make me write faster. And thanks for reading (:**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here's chapter 2. I know it's not that long, but I promise that chapter 3 will make up for it.**

**I hope the story is easier to read now and thanks for the reviews.**

**Also, I'm not from an English-speaking country, so I apologize for any mistakes. (: **

**Chapter 3 will hopefully be posted until Friday, although I can't promise anything.**

**Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

**CHAPTER 2: AND I WONDER WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT**

'Kate, is that you?' She heard her mother ask from the kitchen. She pushed some hair out of her eyes and paddled to the kitchen table. Her mother turned around and smiled at her, 'There you are, honey. I was just about to set the table. Go put your stuff in your room and come back down.' Kate walked over to her and planted a kiss on her cheek. 'Sure, mom. I'll be right back.' Then she ran upstairs and closed the door once she got to her room. She turned on her laptop and threw her backpack in the corner by her bed. She still couldn't believe everything that happened today and she was thinking about it as she came back to the kitchen.

'So, how was school?' Kate grinned and answered her, 'It was very interesting actually.' Johanna Beckett turned away from the stove and narrowed her eyes at her. 'Okay, spit it out. What happened?' Kate laughed and told her about Rick and how cute and nice he is and also about all that had happened. Johanna smiled when her daughter told her that he walked her home. 'So, you _do _like him?' Kate blushed slightly and nodded. Johanna finished setting the table with the help of her daughter just as Jim Beckett came home. He got to the kitchen and kissed Johanna, then hugged his daughter. He asked her how school was and Kate's mom answered him instead of Kate, 'She met a boy, her new schoolmate. Apparently he's really cute and very nice.' Jim laughed and said, 'Well, I was like that, too. That's why your mom fell in love with me.' Johanna threw a towel in his chest and they all sat down at the table. After the meal, Kate went to change and then she and her mom went shopping.

When Rick got home, his mom was just practicing for her role in some Broadway show.

'So do not fear, my love, for I would give the brightest star your name, if that was possible!' Martha swirled around the living room, completely caught up in her character and at first, didn't even notice Rick coming home. She turned her head around when he dropped his keys on the kitchen counter, though. 'Richard, darling, how was school?' He rolled his eyes at her antics and hugged her. 'It was certainly interesting, that much I'm sure of.' Martha Rodgers pulled back and led him to the couch. She made him sit down and poured herself a glass of red wine, urging him to talk. He smiled and told her the whole story, from the beginning to the end and with everything in between.

He didn't miss a thing and when he finished, Martha's eyes were practically glowing, giving an impression that she's drunk more than she cares to admit. Rick knew why her eyes looked like that, though. She's always enjoyed him telling her stories about anything and everything. It kind of became their ritual; he'd had to make up a good goodnight story and she would listen to him imagining the craziest ideas in his brain and transforming them into words. He was only 10 then, but already a wordsmith.

This ritual of theirs stopped about the same time Rick reached the age of 13 and Martha wasn't allowed to hear his stories anymore, which included a lot more teenage drama and puberty than pure, unbridled love, princesses and heroes and magic among other such things.

'Well, seems to me like you've fallen quite hard for this girl, my dear.' Rick smiled, his eyes being a prove for Martha's statement. 'Yeah, she's not like everyone else, you know, she just…stands out.' Martha patted his chest and said proudly, 'That's exactly why you fell for her. Because you stand out, too.' She smiled and kissed his cheek, then told him she has practice for the drama play and that she'll be home by 7 PM with Chinese food for dinner. When the door closed after her, he went to his room and changed to running shorts and a red t-shirt, then went for a run at the seaside.

He had his earplugs in the whole time and used that precious time for thinking about everything. He used it for thinking about the way Kate's eyes shined when the sun caught in her orbs, about the way her body stretched when she shot hoops, about the way her whole face expressed the beauty of an angel when she smiled and such peace and freedom that he never thought was even possible for a human being to have. He sat down at the bench in front of the old dock at the almost abandoned side of the port. This was his favorite destination in Berkeley. It seemed as though all the pain and troubles, worries just didn't hold any meaning, only memories of the past experiences. Just the feeling of the sun warming his face and the sound of the waves crashing at the rocks and flooding the shore made his heart race faster.

He was brought out of his thoughts and daydreaming as he heard someone yell his name. He searched around for anyone that he knew, although that wasn't quite as hard as it seemed, because he knew almost everyone in Berkeley. He grew up here and moved with his mother to Long Beach last year only because she was offered a job in Los Angeles and he always just wanted the best for her. They moved back here once they both realized Long Beach wasn't really their home and that they'd rather stay here in Berkeley, than live in some big house for rich people in the middle of the city, with celebrities on almost every corner of the street and so many people you could hardly breathe.

He grinned at the person coming towards him. A small man with white moustaches and short, white hair smiled to him as he shook his hand. 'Well there Rick, I thought I'd never see ya again.' Rick chuckled and replied, 'Oh well, Pietro, you know I could never stay far away from Berkeley for a long time.' Pietro Di Lenardo waved his hand at him, indicating that he knew how much Rick loved this little town. 'Come on now, there's been quite a lot of news since you left and everyone misses you. Alexis has been asking about you almost every day for the past year.' Rick smiled as he thought about the young red-headed girl, who loved learning as much as he loved writing. 'And we all miss your fantastic stories very much.' Rick sighed at the happy look on the man's face and told him, 'I haven't really been writing or even just telling stories that much lately. I'm afraid I'm a little out of practice.' Pietro shook his head and assured him with piercing blue eyes, 'That is not even possible, my friend.' Rick smiled gently and followed him down the street to an old cafe.

The inside looked like some old Italian house, which fit perfectly with Pietro's family, who moved here from Benevento, Italy, after the World War II. Pietro was merely a newborn in the year 1947, when his father and mother moved to live in New York at first, but they couldn't fit in with the city life, because they were so used to living in a small town. That's why they travelled across the country and found their peace in Berkeley. By the time Pietro's family settled down and bought a small apartment near the rocky coastline, he was already 5 years old. His father had to work all the time and his mother never had enough time for him. Pietro used the time when he was alone to make up stories about a perfect life and how great life could be. Nothing changed until someday, when he was 10, his father came home and told them he won some money. When his wife asked him what he is going to do with it, he told her he'll make his dreams come true. So he bought a tiny house close to their previous apartment and they moved in there. He renovated the front of the house and after 3 years, he had his own cafe.

When Pietro was 16, he met Tracy, who was his schoolmate throughout the high school. They fell in love and he had never been as happy as he was right then. He realized that the life he was living was certainly better than any kind of a made-up story and that he would never give it up for anything else. When he was 22, his father got sick and died a few months later. His mother passed away not long after that and he was left to take care of the cafe. He married Tracy 2 years after the death of his mother and they had 3 children.

Rick remembered all of this while he stood in the small room in front of the bar. There were some customers sitting on the wooden chairs and rounded oak tables. The air smelt like lemons and coffee, making Rick lick his lips. He was pulled out of his thoughts when a little girl came running towards him and he almost fell back when he felt her hit his chest. He laughed and spun the girl around, attracting curious glances from several customers in the cafe. 'Alexis, I've missed you,' he said when he put her back down on solid ground. 'I've missed you too, Ricky.' She grinned and pulled him through the door near the bar, then down the hallway which led to Pietro's part of the house. He smiled widely when he saw the whole family resting in the living room. An older boy came to him and hugged him tightly, laughing right into his ear. 'Long time no see,' he said, 'how are you holding?' Rick ran a hand through his hair and answered, 'I'm okay, Paolo. You?' He grinned and nodded as if saying 'me too'.

Rick hugged the other members of the family, too; Tracy, Pietro's sons Marco and Dante and Pietro's daughter Laura. Marco's son Luca was already 25 years old and was expecting a daughter with his wife Elena. Dante had two kids; one was a boy who had the strangest sense of humor; his name was Bernardo and he was 18 years old and the second one was Paolo. Laura was married to a red-headed Frenchman called Jacques and they had two daughters; one of them was Alexis and the other one was a girl Rick's age with light-brown hair who always had a smile on her face. She squeezed him tightly and pulled back to study his face. 'You've grown older since the last time I've seen you.' He grinned and joked, 'Well, Lena, you know what they say; the older you are, the wiser you are.' Lena laughed and fired back, 'Yeah, but I don't think that the ones who wrote that knew _you._' He feigned shock and told her, 'I'm deeply wounded now. But I'll have you know that my mind is one of the greatest at my new school no matter what you say, thank you very much.' She chuckled and they all sat down just as Elena brought numerous cups of coffee and handed one to each.

After a moment of silence, Dante spoke up, 'Oh Rick, I completely forgot, thank you for reminding me. How's the new school?' Rick's eyes lit up and he told them about Kate Beckett, about the boys, about Lanie and Jenny, but he left Madison and Josh out, though. He didn't want the family to worry about those things and ask him questions, because he really didn't want to talk about them.

Pietro, who was sitting next to Rick on the couch, put an arm around him and told him, 'You remind me so much of myself, Rick. I fell in love with Tracy the first minute I saw her, too. And you're stubborn and open-minded and a dreamer, like I was. I still am that man, actually. Who you are never changes, even if what you are does.' Rick offered him a thankful smile and then looked at the members of the family, who were all nodding their heads and smiling.

He ran all the way back to the apartment and took the shower straight away. He was putting on his gray sweats, just as Martha sauntered through the door. 'Richard, I'm home!' He heard her yell from the kitchen and he quickly went to greet her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. 'How was the class?' She waved her hand dramatically and told him, 'Same as always, kiddo.' He grinned and they ate the food while Rick told her about his visit to the Old Dock and how he saw Pietro and his family again. His mother listened closely and kept a genuine smile on her face. When they finished with the dinner, Martha offered him to watch the old shows in which she was acting, but he declined, telling her that he had already watched that ten times and that he'll leave her to it alone. She took no offense and he kissed her cheek for goodnight, then scurried to his room.

He turned on his laptop and sat on the window ledge, turning off the lights on his way there, so that the only light in the room was the soft glow of the computer screen coming to life. He put on his headphones and some music and then looked up at the sky, the stars and the moon the only ones throwing light on the dark streets below. He logged in on Facebook and saw a lot of friend requests. He recognized the people as the ones from North Berkeley High and accepted the requests. What made him smile, though, was the notification that Kate Beckett accepted _his_ friend request. He clicked on the notification and found himself staring at her profile. He snapped out of it as soon as he saw a new chat window open and only a single word was written there, but it was enough to make him grin helplessly. He wrote back as quick as he could, but still careful not to make any spelling mistakes.

_Kate: Hi._

_Rick: Good evening, Miss Beckett. _

She laughed at his formal response.

_Kate: Was that really necessary?_

_Rick: Of course, why would you expect anything less from me?_

She shook her head while chuckling and her fingers flew fast over the keyboard, forming a sentence.

_Kate: You can be really weird sometimes, you know that?_

He couldn't help but laugh at what she wrote.

_Rick: So I've been told. But it only makes you like me more, right?_

Kate bit her lip and lowered her gaze to look at the bed she was sitting on. She wrote him back with a glint in her eyes.

_Kate: Yeah, right._

Rick's eyes widened when he saw her response and he felt his stomach flip, but in a really, _really _good way.

_Rick: You do mean that, don't you? Because I'd hate to be disappointed. *puppy face*_

She laughed at his childish behaviour.

_Kate: Puppy face doesn't work on me, try again._

She quickly added a smiling face, just to encourage him.

_Kate: ;)_

_Rick: Well that's a sad fact._

_Kate: It's a fact, that's all that matters._

_Rick: Do you have a cam?_

_Kate: Maybe, why?_

_Rick: I want to see you._

_Kate: I'm already in my pajamas, Rick. Trust me, you don't want to see me._

_Rick: Kate, you'd look gorgeous in everything, even in a snowman costume._

_Kate: Haha, very funny. I don't have any make-up on._

_Rick: That doesn't matter. You don't wear much anyway and if I'm not wrong, you look even prettier without it._

_Kate: You're wrong._

_Rick: I know I'm not._

_Kate: How can you be so sure about that?_

_Rick: It's one of my many talents, and you know that I really have _a lot _of them._

She couldn't help but laugh at that. Yes, she knew he had many talents - one of them was knowing everything about literature and being funny and his basketball skills were certainly impressive – but she wasn't sure if she wanted to show him this vulnerable side of her. She did it once with her ex-boyfriend, but he dumped her when he saw her without any make-up on. She has been extremely sensitive to people seeing her like this since then, so she was afraid of screwing up with Rick this way, especially because she felt like they had something. She pushed a fallen strand of hair behind her ear and wrote back.

_Kate: Yes, I know. I'm still not sure, Rick._

_Rick: Kate, it's not gonna change anything, trust me._

How could he read her mind? He knew _exactly _what she was thinking. She shook her head to get rid of these thoughts.

_Kate: What do I get if I turn on my cam?_

_Rick: I'll write you a song or something._

She gasped when she saw what he was offering to do for her. No guy has ever written her a song, but she's been wishing all her life for someone to do just that. She considered it for a moment, then put it into words as she answered him.

_Kate: I've always wanted for someone to write me a song. No one ever really did, though._

_Rick: You deserve all the best songs in the world, Kate. I just really, really, really, really want to see you. _

_Kate: Thank you, but seriously, just out of curiosity, why would you want to see me anyway?_

_Rick: Because I miss you._

Kate's stomach fluttered and she covered her mouth with her hand to hide her smile. She was thinking about what to write back, but she let her hand fall back on the keyboard when he added something.

_Rick: I miss the way you smile _

_those dark circles in your eyes, _

_I miss the way you sing,_

_and all the joy you bring._

_I miss the way you seem to see, _

_only what's the best in me._

_I miss the feeling of your hand in mine_

_with you it's always more than fine._

_And I wonder if this all rimes,_

_would seeing you now be such a crime?_

She felt tears prickling at the back of her eyes and she had a big lump in her throat. She swallowed hard, tried to get rid of the moisture clouding her sight and her heart swiveled with joy and affection.

_Kate: That was really sweet. Thank you._

_Rick: Anything for you. So have I suceeded?_

_Kate: In what?_

_Rick: Making you accept my invitation for a video chat._

_Kate: Oh, I think you have, then._

_Rick: *happy face* You have no idea how happy you just made me._

She couldn't get rid of the smile on her face while she turned on the camera and connected it to the chat room.

As soon as he saw her face, his breath was taken away. She looked amazing, even in her shorts and a white t-shirt with her hair falling down her shoulders and with no make-up on.

_Rick: I'm seriously speechless right now. _

She blushed when she read what he wrote and then looked at his face on the video. He looked astounded and with ruffled hair, sitting there in his sweats and an undershirt, the moon lighting his face, he looked really good himself.

_Kate: You're not so bad yourself, Rick._

_Rick: Well that's an unexpected compliment. I'm kidding, thank you._

He smiled at her and waved.

She laughed and waved him back as soon as she stopped trying to hide her stupid grin.

_Rick: Hey, I haven't thanked you yet for accepting me in your company. I know I can be a little annoying sometimes, but I try not to be._

_Kate: You're fine, don't worry. You're a good company._

She rolled her eyes when he grinned at her compliment.

_Rick: You're beautiful._

Her eyes widened at his words and she fought the blush flooding her cheeks and her neck.

When he saw her reaction, he made a mental note to tell her that more often.

_Kate: Thank you._

He smiled at her with warm eyes and then saw her yawn after a few minutes of silence and just looking at each other.

_Rick: You should go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow._

She let her hair fall down her face to hide her smile from him, but nodded when she straightened her back.

_Kate: Yeah, I should probably really go._

_Rick: Yeah._

When no one said anything for a minute, he decided to finally ask her the one question that's been on his mind since he first talked to her today.

_Rick: Um, if it's all right with you, could I get your cell number?_

Kate smiled tiredly at him and nodded.

_Kate: 0307-555-1008_

_Rick: Thanks._

_Kate: No problem. I'm really leaving now otherwise I'll pass out in front of the computer._

He chuckled and typed her back.

_Rick: I can see you starting to do just that, so good night and sweet dreams. _

_Kate: Yeah, to you too. Bye._

_Rick: Goodbye, Kate._

She turned off her camera and logged off the Facebook, then shut down the computer and placed it on her desk. She went to sleep with quite a few things on her mind and she was certain that she'll dream about Rick.

He smiled at the screen and went to bed himself, making up a story about her and him before falling asleep.

**I tried to concentrate on Rick and his life in this chapter because I'll concentrate on Kate in another one. I hope you liked it and review, please, thank you. (:**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter 3 of High School Love. I'm sorry I haven't updated sooner but school literally drained the life out of me, so I wasn't able to be writing that much. **

**Thank you for your lovely reviews and I promise I will do my best to keep this story interesting and very much alive for as long as the ideas will keep popping up in my head. **

**CHAPTER 3: YOUR SKIN AND BONES TURN INTO SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL**

When Kate got to school next day, she wasn't surprised when she saw Rick standing in front of her locker, talking to Kevin and laughing at Javi and Lanie making out next to them. Kate squealed when she saw them and pulled Lanie back from the kiss. Lanie looked a little disoriented when Kate hugged her and wished her all the best, but she grinned back and when Kate let go of her, she kissed Javier again. When she rolled her eyes and looked at Rick, she saw him smiling at her. She couldn't stop the hotness on her cheeks at the intense look he was giving her. Their staring contest was interrupted by Kevin who shouted 'Jenny!' and ran towards a blonde girl who was apparently really glad to see him. Rick spoke up, 'Well, I assume that's his girlfriend, right?' Kate laughed and opened her locker, 'No, she's his sister. Of course she's his girlfriend. She's been out of the country for a month, travelling with her parents across the Europe. We've all missed her.' She stopped talking right about the time when Jenny walked up to them with Kev and hugged Lanie, Javi and Kate.

'Jenny , it's really good to see you!' Kate said when Jenny let go of her. 'You have to tell us everything about your trip,' said Lanie. Jenny laughed and said that she will and then she spotted Rick standing next to Kate, their hands brushing. She offered, 'So, Kate, anything interesting happened with your love life while I was gone?' She looked to Rick and back to blushing Kate, clearly expecting some answers from her, but Rick spoke instead of her, 'Hi, I'm Rick Rodgers, I've moved here from Long Beach.' Jenny smiled and shook his hand. 'Hi, I'm Jenny O'Maley. So, you're our new schoolmate, huh?' Rick nodded and Kate rolled her eyes. 'Can we go to class now?' Kate turned to close her locker and then walked towards class 2A.

Lanie and Javier were already there, kissing at the back of the class. Rick laughed and sat down next to Kate. She looked at him sceptically and asked, 'Why are you laughing?' He shook his head and answered, 'They look really good together.' Kate grinned and said, 'I know, I'm glad they finally went for it.' Rick nodded and turned towards her. He smiled widely and didn't take his eyes off her even when the bell rang and Mr McLeerey came in. Kate rolled her eyes. 'Concentrate on what he's saying, not on me.' His eyes twinkled and he responded immediately, 'Oh, but you're much more interesting than him.' He winked at her and she told him to shut up. When he still didn't show any signs of paying attention to what Mr McLeerey was saying about art, she was forced to turn his head for 90° degrees to the side with her hand, so that he was now facing the teacher, but smirking because she let her hand linger on his cheek for a second or two.

The students had to draw something that happened yesterday on the 1st day of school. Kate didn't know what to draw because almost every memory from yesterday was about Rick. He, on the other side, knew what to draw instantly. By the end of the lesson, Javier and Lanie drew a scene from PE, Kevin drew a scene where Rick was looking at Kate in the caffeteria, Jenny drew a scene from today because she wasn't here yesterday and Rick drew a scene where he was holding Kate after he picked her up from the floor when Madison and Meredith attacked her. Kate laughed at all of the pictures, but blushed when she saw Kevin's and Rick's. She drew a scene where they were all together, including Rick. Kate's picture was by far the best one, although the others weren't so bad either.

At the end of the class, Rick folded his drawing and put it in his pocket, then followed the others outside. He found only Kate waiting for him outside of the classroom and he asked her, 'Where's everyone else?' She smiled and told him to show her his schedule. 'You have French now, just like me. Javi and Lanie have Spanish and Kev and Jenny have Italian. Guess you're stucked with me for now.' Rick grinned and replied, 'I don't mind. At all.' She laughed and led him to the end of the hall. Miss Simone Noscuix was a young and attractive brunette, but she was nothing like Kate, well, at least that's what Rick thought. Kate wrote him something on a piece of paper and he grinned when he read what she wrote.

_Miss Noscuix is the most popular teacher at school. Practically every boy wants to have something with her._

He wrote her back on the other side of the crumpled paper.

_Not me._

Kate looked up in disbelief and shook her head.

_Come on, Rick. Just say it. _Every _boy wants her._

He almost laughed and tore a new piece of paper out of his notebook.

_She's okay, but I like another brunette more._

Kate bit her lip and looked at him. He just winked and looked at Miss Noscuix, who was saying something in French.

_Really? And just who might that be? _

He smiled at her and quickly wrote something back.

_Let's just say the way I see it, every boy wants _her_ too._

Kate laughed and Miss Noscuix looked at her with happy smile, 'Great, at least someone who gets the joke.' Kate stiffled another laugh and looked at Rick who was trying not to laugh too. She tore a new piece of paper out of her notebook.

_Oh, so you're talking about the girl named Cindy?_

Rick looked at her and she nodded her head in the direction of a brunette sitting in front of them. He's seen Cindy Asherville around quite a lot of times and she wasn't that bad, but she didn't even get knee-high to Kate. He smiled and wrote back.

_No, I'm talking about the girl who's sitting next to me. _

Kate looked past him, on his left side where Madison was sitting and she smirked. He rolled his eyes and added to his writing.

_She's blonde, so that doesn't count. _

Kate tried to keep a straight face and nodded, but her smile broke free anyway. She turned her notebook to the last page and started to write. When she was done, she showed it to him.

_Are you seriously talking about me?_

Rick, happy that she said it herself, grinned at her and wrote her back, next to her scribblings.

_Who else is driving every guy in the school crazy? _

Kate blushed and bit her lip again and then looked at Madison who was staring jealously at Rick and Kate smiling to each other. She looked back down in her notebook and saw he's added something.

_Yes, silly. Of course I'm talking about you. _

She blushed some more and looked at him, found him staring at her with his blue orbs and she looked away. She saw Josh with the corner of her eye and rather looked back to Rick who was smirking. He grabbed her hand and positioned it so that he could write on it. She raised an eyebrow at him, but he just winked at her and she felt his pen touch the soft skin of her palm. She looked up and saw Miss Noscuix write something down on the blackboard. When Kate felt Rick stop writing, she looked back down and when she saw what he wrote, she blushed and grinned.

_You're beautiful. _

She felt him brush the palm where he wrote with his thumb. Then he whispered to her, 'Sorry if I pressed too much, hope it didn't hurt you.' Hurt her? Hell no, it didn't hurt her at all. If he wanted to write on her hand all day, she'd let him if he would write down things like that, things that would melt her insides like _that. _She shook her head and looked down, so her curls were covering her face and hoped he couldn't see her smile along with the blush creeping up her cheeks. He squeezed her hand and let go, then tried to concentrate on what the teacher was saying and not on the way she looked at him. The rest of the period went by pretty fast for Rick and Kate, especially because they were texting each other the whole time.

When French ended, Rick and Kate emerged from the classroom laughing so much that they almost lost their balance and fell. Lanie saw her best friend clutching Rick's t-shirt with her left hand, while the other one was gripping his arm and her forehead resting on his shoulder. One of his hands was gently touching her lower back and the other one was holding their backpacks. They were both laughing and trying to catch their breaths. Lanie grabbed Javi's hand and walked over to them.

'Oh God Rick, that was the most _epic _thing I've ever heard in my entire life .' He chuckled and pulled her a bit closer with his hand, trying to get out of the way of the stampedo of students walking down the hall. Her laughter subsided and she looked up at him with hazel green eyes, looking straight through his eyes and into his soul. She stopped laughing about the same time he did, but they both kept stupid grins on their faces.

'So I _am _funny after all!' Kate chuckled and confirmed, 'You're hilarious. You should be glad that I didn't start laughing in the middle of the class. That would probably end with a visit to the principal's office.' He laughed and assured her, 'Don't worry, my timing was perfectly planned.' Kate giggled, _actually_ _giggled_ and her eyes looked down at his lips for the briefest of moments, then dropping to watch his throat while he swallowed hard and she felt his grip on her back tighten. Suddenly, they heard someone fake a cough close by. They turned their heads and saw Lanie wearing an amused smile, standing next to Javi who looked a little bit uncomfortable. Kate looked down at her hands and she carefully let go of Rick, sliding her hand down his chest, her right one tangling in his fingers for a second before she stepped back and dropped her hands to her sides. When Rick saw her red cheeks he grinned, pleased with himself.

'I was..um..We were just..uh..' Rick covered for her, 'What Kate here was trying to say, is that we were just asking ourselves where you guys were.' Kate bit her lip and smiled at Lanie who groaned and told them, 'Come on guys, if you're done being cute, can we please go find Kev and Jen? Javi had an idea, but we are _not _talking about it until we find them, so ya'll better hurry up!' She pulled Javier with her as she strolled down the hall, looking for any sign of the couple. Rick and Kate followed them silently without looking at each other. They found Kevin and Jenny in a corner by the lockers, making out. Kate chuckled and Lanie rolled her eyes when they didn't register the sound of her voice. Javi whistled and they finally broke apart with their eyes a little disoriented. Lanie pulled Jenny away from Kev and fixed her hair when Rick spoke up, 'Kevin, I thought you were the responsible one.' He laughed at Kev's shocked expression. 'Yeah well, that can change when you're constantly next to a gorgeous woman.' Jenny blushed and Kate joined her when Rick told him, 'I know what you mean, dude,' then glanced at Kate.

Lanie rushed them all to the cafeteria and once they all sat down with their plates, she began talking, 'Okay, so today is Friday and Javi had this amazing idea that we could go over to his place, watch some movies, play video games – typical for the guys, of course – and order pizza or something. Ya'll should bring something comfy to wear too, 'cause we'll be sleeping over.' They all agreed and sat down at their tables in the classroom, just as Chemistry started. A young woman walked through the door and Rick couldn't help but notice that most of the teachers at North Berkeley High were women. The woman with black hair and pale skin smiled at the students and introduced herself, 'Hi everyone. I hope you had a very good summer. My name is Miss Deborah Rain and I'll be teaching you Chemistry this year. Before we get started though, you guys have to choose your partners, because there's going to be a lot of team work and experiments . Most of you already sit with the one you chose, so the ones who don't sit together yet, please do it now.'

Two pairs changed their seats, one of which included Madison and Gina. Rick groaned, leaned his elbows on the cold surface of the desk, and put his head in his hands. 'What's wrong?' He looked up at the sound of her voice and shrugged. 'Madison. She's been ogling me the whole day.' Kate watched him with an amused smile while he was trying to find the right words to describe what Madison was doing. 'She… I… Did you see the way she looks at me?' He scrunched up his nose and Kate chuckled. 'I just don't like it. I don't like _her_, for that matter.' Kate nodded while stiffling a laugh at his disgusted face when he turned over to look at the head cheerleader. Rick turned back towards her when Madison noticed him looking at her and waved. He looked like he was in a bad mood and all because of Madison, so Kate turned her notebook to the last page and wrote something to him.

_Are you okay?_

He looked back up at her and saw a concerned look on her face. He couldn't help but smile at how adorable she looked like that as he took a pen and wrote her back.

_I'm great, as long as I'm with you._

She felt the heat rise up in her chest, coloring her cheeks with a bright shade of pink. He took her hand, the one he was writing on earlier and flipped it over, so that she was looking at his writing again as he brushed his thumb over it. She knew what he was trying to do. She knew that he was telling her how beautiful she was again and just the thought of that made her stomach flutter. Their moment was over as soon as a folded piece of paper landed on their desk. Rick unfolded it with on hand, while keeping the other one clasped around Kate's.

_Looking incredibly hot there, Ricky. What's up with the hand holding thing? Tell that idiot that it's _so _not cool that she gets to touch you more than your own girlfriend._

Kate's eyes widened at the word girlfriend and she looked at him questioningly. He frowned and wrote in Kate's notebook.

_She thinks we're dating. She's been bothering me about it since yesterday when she wrote to me on Facebook. _

_Are you?_

_What?_

_Dating?_

He looked at her like she was crazy and quickly scribbled own the words that made her smile.

_I'd never date her. _

_I'm glad._

He shot his eyes back up at her as she turned her head away from him to look at Miss Rain who was explaining something about molecules.

He squeezed her hand which was still tightly clutched in his and she looked at their hands first, looked like she forgot they were still holding them and then slowly dragged her eyes to level with his. When she looked back down, she noticed something new written in her notebook.

_What should I write her back?_

_Tell her that that the two of you are _not_ dating. _

He nodded, then wrote down the exact same thing on the paper that Madison sent him. The look on her face when she read what he wrote was priceless. She looked furious because he was probably the first one who said no to her and angry, – Kate suspected that mostly with her - but she wrote him back and threw the piece of paper in his direction.

_I've been waiting for you in the park yesterday. You didn't come. :(_

Rick decided not to care about what she said anymore so he simply tore the paper into little pieces while Kate was watching Madison's expressions at his movements. Those movements demanded the use of both hands, so he had to let go of her hand and she instantly felt cold, like she was left alone in an old and dusty room with the smell of dampness and freezing air. She was brought out of her thoughts as Miss Rain called Madison and told her to tell her who discovered atoms. Madison didn't know, of course, and Miss Rain told her to stop joking around and listen to what they're talking about in class. Madison looked like she was about to jump out of her chair and rip out Miss Rain's hair, but to Kate's surprise, she even managed to hold it all back as she apologized. The rest of the period was spent with Madison throwing angry looks towards Kate and Rick while they were both completely engrossed in each other.

After Chemistry, Rick and Kate hurried up out of the door to try avoiding Madison and her barbie-squad. They waited for the rest of the gang to show up and when they did, Lanie pulled Kate aside although Rick protested against it.

'What the hell happened in there? Why was Madison so furious?' Kate bit her lip and told her about the note and how Rick and her held hands.

'Okay, so first of all, that's so adorable,' she squealed and continued, 'and why doesn't Maddy just stop trying to seduce Rick. I mean everyone sees that you two are completely perfect for each other, but she still wants to date him.' Kate shrugged and walked into the class and hoped she will survive the last period today and then, hopefully, get out of Madison's sight for the whole weekend.

Rick was waiting for Kate to come and he put his backpack on her chair next to him, so that no one would even think about occupying her place. By someone, he meant Madison, or any other girl or boy who's not Kate.

He sighed in relief when he saw her walking towards her spot and smile when she noticed his bag on the place where she was supposed to sit.

'Um, I saved you a spot?' She laughed at his childishness and sat down when he removed his backpack. She pulled out her phone and wrote a text to someone and Rick got curious, so he asked, 'Who are you writing to?' She looked at him and smiled with her eyes on fire and he thought he was going to collapse. His answer came when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, but he was too concentrated on the way her bottom lip moved between her shiny-white teeth, to even care about his phone.

Kate noticed that he wasn't breathing while his eyes were focused on her lips and she drew in close to whisper in his ear.

'Breathe, Rick.' She felt him shudder against her and then his breath fanning across her skin. when he exhaled and inhaled, his lips barely touching her neck. She closed her eyes in pleasure as he pressed a short kiss on the skin, then she felt him smile when she shivered and let out a little moan. He could feel her heart racing, could feel every beat of the muscle who pushed the blood through her veins, keeping her alive, warm and breathing.

Their moment was interrupted when the teacher came in the classroom. They quickly pulled apart, both with red cheeks and suddenly it was too hot in the room for both of them. Kate looked on her right and saw Lanie with big eyes and a big grin plastered across her face, looking as it was taking her every ounce of her willpower not to jump up and scream how adorable they are and how perfect they look together and so on. Kate rolled her eyes and looked at Miss Buckerby who wrote an equasion on the blackboard, but she couldn't help herself, so she looked at Rick who was staring at her with his eyes darker than usual, his cheeks and neck red and his mouth just slightly open. She licked her lips unconsciously, heard him let out a little whimper and saw his hands twitch on the table.

'Stop doing the eye sex thing and pay attention for God's sake, you're gonna get yourself detention.' Kate turned and saw Lanie glaring at her, then writing something down in her notebook.

_If you get detention, we can't go to Javi's. At least not right away, which, accept it, you really want and me too and everyone else too, so stop. You can do what you're doing later._

Kate brought her eyes up and looked at Lanie, mouthing 'okay' at her.

At the end of the period, Kate was quite proud on herself, for she hadn't looked at Rick even once since Lanie told her not to.

She got out of the classroom and tried to go to the lockers after the others, but was pulled back by someone who crushed her in their chest, then put their hands around her. She was too scared to turn around and look at the stranger's face because she knew it wasn't really a stranger. She knew it was Rick, because of the way his breath skirted across her ear and the goosebumps which erupted on her skin.

'Kate.' She groaned at his tone of voice, but stayed like she was.

'Kate.' His voice seemed as if he was pleading with her, but she didn't know what he wanted. She found that out rather quick though, as he rubbed small circles on her stomach with his hands that rested there. She looked back over her shoulder to try and see him, see his eyes, but was stopped when he pushed his hands harder in her abdomen, her muscles contracting under the pressure, feeling him behind her back, his breath on her neck, his nose buried in her hair, everywhere. He was everywhere and she couldn't stop herself, so she grabbed his hands and intertwined her fingers with his, their joined hands now resting low on her stomach, making her shiver with every pattern he traced on it.

She jumped a little at the sound of his voice whispering in her ear.

'You're beautiful.'

It was the first time she'd heard him actually say the words himself and not write them down somewhere. Her head spinned at his words and she felt herself close her eyes to try and savor this moment for as long as possible. She opened her eyes immediately, though, because he slid his hands over her abdomen and squeezed her hips one more time before stepping back, his warmth no longer surrounding her, his arms now in his pockets as he grinned at her and winked before walking over to the lockers to meet the others.

She exhaled loudly and tried to calm down the thumping of her heart, feeling it under her shirt, beating so hard it felt like she was falling down the cliff, jumping in the sea but never really even touching the water below because the fall is so long.

She tried to push away the memory of his scent so close to her, picked up her long-forgotten backpack off the floor and shuffled to the gang, all the while carefully avoiding Rick's gaze.

'Hey Kate, where've you been?' Kate turned towards Jenny who had a smirk on her face as she tried to formulate an excusable response.

'I was just thinking that we should go over to my place for my stuff after Lanie, you, Kev and Rick pick up yours.' She looked at him briefly when she said his name and saw that he was smirking, clearly still pleased with her reaction to him from before. She decided in that very moment that she was going to get her revenge on him. She was pulled out of her thoughts as Javi's phone rang.

When he hung up, he had a frown on his face. 'Um, so that was my mum. She asked if I could sleep at Kevin's tonight, 'cause she's throwing a party for her colleagues in our house.' Rick decided to speak up, 'We can sleep over at my place.' When everyone looked at him, he continued, 'I mean, the apartment's not really all that big but it's nice and we have a really comfy couch in the living room and a plazma so that won't be a problem.' Everyone's eyes lit up and they all agreed to spending the night at Rick's.

They were just trying to get out of the school, when they heard Madison shout, 'Ricky, wait for me!' Rick turned around and saw her walking towards him, her blonde hair weaving around while she was trying to look hot and make him go with her, he suspected. He only grabbed Kate's hand and pulled her through the crowd at the school entrance, leaving the rest of the gang behind them as they ran through the courtyard and the parking lot, crouching down on the floor behind a big car.

Rick released Kate's hand, lifted his head up a little, looked through the car's window towards the school entrance and saw Madison standing there with her hands on her hips, scanning her surroundings for any sign of him. He sighed and crouched back down next to Kate. She had a really amused look on her face and was now sitting on the asphalt, barely holding back a laugh.

'What's so funny?' he asked her and when she just shook her head, he apologized himself, 'I'm sorry for dragging you out of the school like that. But you have to admit she does look kind of scary.' She couldn't hold it back anymore. Her laughter rang through the parking lot, lighting his ears on fire. The way she threw back her head which caused her hair to slip to her back, only made him want to kiss the hollow of her throat, her collarbone, her ear, that sensitive space right below it, where you could feel the rhythmic thumping of her heart under your lips and tongue and teeth.

He realized that he's been staring at her and cleared his throat, saw her watching him, eyeing him carefully.

He looked at the school entrance once again and saw Madison making out with Josh under a tree and he couldn't help but laugh at that.

'_Now, _what's so funny?' He stopped laughing and told her to look at that. She grinned when she saw what Madison and Josh were doing and pulled Rick up on his feet. They smiled to each other, happy that Madison and Josh decided to jump each other instead of them. They walked to Javi's car, the gang patiently waiting for them. Kate opened the back door of the car and ordered Jenny to sit on Kevin's lap, so that she and Rick could sit down properly, when Rick suggested, 'You know Kate, you could always sit on my lap, I wouldn't mind.' She rolled her eyes and told him to shut up, then got into the car, Rick climbing in after her. It was a tight fit and their thighs were pressed together, their shoulders rubbing.

Rick noticed how well Kate fit into his side, her curves melting into him as Javier turned the car to the street. He was tempted to do slide his hand down her thigh, feel her twitch at the sudden contact, to wrap his hand around her knee, lift it up and drag it across his lap, then…

'Rick!' He flinched at Kate's voice and her finger poking him in the chest.

'What?' Kate rolled her eyes and Kevin and Javier laughed at Rick's inability to stay focused on anything but Kate.

Lanie sighed in frustration and told him, 'We were asking you if your parents are home?'

Rick shrugged and said, 'My mother probably has practice until 7 PM, but I think she'll be home for the rest of the evening. No worries though, she won't bother us.'

Javier spoke up, 'What about your dad?' Rick scrunched up his nose and answered, 'I don't have one.' Everyone suddenly became quiet but Kevin squeezed Rick's knee after a moment.

'Sorry, man.' Rick smiled at him and shrugged again. 'Don't be. He left mom when I wasn't even born so he's probably a scumbag anyway.' He looked at Kate and saw her studying his face while shooting him a gentle smile. He smiled back at her and felt her finger touch his hand, which was resting on his leg. He wrapped his hand around her finger and squeezed it, already feeling much better, then realeased it.

'So, Javi and Kev, you have any good video games you could bring over?' The atmosphere immediately changed, the guys falling easily in conversation while Lanie, Jenny and Kate talked about the cheer squad and their plans for this year.

**The sleepover party will take place in the next chapter which will be uploaded soon, I hope I'll be able to do it over the weekend, I just have to finish it.**

**As you probably noticed, Kate and Rick got closer in this chapter. I wanted them to fall in love as soon as their eyes met or maybe in the course of 2-3 days, just like in The Blue Butterfly. **

**I know you all want to have them kiss each other and such things and I really really really want that too (they will kiss, don't worry, just not yet), but I'm like Stana. I think there's nothing sexier than swordplay. I guess you'll just have to stick around then. (:  
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**AND SERIOUSLY WHO IS EXCITED FOR MONDAY! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's chapter 4. I'm really sorry for the delay but when I tried to upload it, Fanfiction wouldn't sign me in so I have no idea. Anyway, this chapter is all about the sleepover and I hope you'll enjoy it. (:**

**CHAPTER 4: I TRIED TO SING, BUT I ****COULDN'T THINK OF ANYTHING**

They went to pick up Kate's stuff first and when Javi's car stopped in front of their house, she invited them in, so that they could say hello to her parents who were both having a day off again and because she wanted Rick to meet them.

She was sure that her parents would love him, because he was so sweet and kind, but she was nervous nonetheless, like she was bringing home a boyfriend, which, she had to remind herself, Rick wasn't.

She opened the door and heard laughter in the living room. Everyone followed her trail as she stepped into the middle-sized room, the walls filled with pictures and memories, a big couch nestled on one side opposite the plazma TV. She saw her parents looking at a photo album and she recognized it as the one who held the pictures of her when she was still a little girl.

She groaned and rushed over to them, trying to grab a hold of the album, while pleading with them not to show the pictures to the other people in the room. They were both laughing and finally let her take the album while standing up and crossing the room to greet the gang.

Johanna noticed Rick first and she offered him a hand, which he happilly shake.

'So, you must be Richard Rodgers,' she said with a big smile on her face, because clearly the boy was seriously as attractive as Kate described him. Rick smiled nervously and answered her, 'That would be me, ma'am.'

Johanna let go of his hand while she shook her head.

'There's no need to be so official, now, is it? You can call me Johanna.' He grinned at her and she stepped back a little to look at her daughter who had been observing the whole thing with wide eyes, hoping they'll get along and at her mother's nod of approval, she couldn't help but grin, let the blush spread over her cheeks.

Her father had been watching closely, trying to decide if the boy was really as nice as he seemed, or if he was just going to hurt his little girl. He took a step towards Rick and shook his hand. Rick's grip was strong and spoke of manhood and the respect he directed towards him was quite unexpected, but deeply appreciated and accepted with gratitude. Kate's dad has never been fond of Kate's boyfriends before, even though he only met two of them, but this guy was something different. He felt like Rick was a really good kid and if he really did care about her daughter the way he should have, then he was welcome at his house anytime. Except at night. Yeah, that might not be a good idea.

Jim snapped out of his thoughts as Rick said, 'It's nice to meet you, sir. You have an amazing daughter, by the way.' Kate's father nodded and tightened his grip on his hand.

'Yes, she truly is. Oh and you can call me Jim, don't worry. I won't bite unless you hurt my daughter.' He looked at Rick with a serious gaze, but was surprised when he shook his head and replied, 'I'd never hurt her, believe me. She doesn't deserve that.'

Rick looked at Kate and saw her trying to hide a smile, her red cheeks glowing and her mother standing proudly behind her. Jim squeezed his hand and dropped it, then retrieved to the kitchen while calling over his shoulder, 'I appreciate that, son.'

After an awkward moment, Kate cleared her throat and pointed with her index finger tot he stairs.

'I'm just gonna go grab some clothes and stuff. Um, Lanie, Jenny, come with me?' The girls said yes, of course, and they hurried up the stairs to Kate's room.

Downstairs, Jim and Johanna offered the guys some drinks, while easily making small talk.

Upstairs though, there was a totally different story. All three of them were jumping up and down on Kate's bed, screaming, then collapsing on the mattress, breathing hard.

Lanie spoke up, 'I can't believe your father actually _likes _him!'

'I know, my dad usually insists that the boys he meets has to call him 'sir' and now, he just told Rick, not to.'

There was a loud squeal of happiness as all three of them started laughing again, standing up slowly, picking up Kate's clothes for the evening and the night.

When the three girls emerged from te bathroom, they all went back to Javi's car after saying goodbye to Mr and Miss Beckett, then drove off to the other's houses, too.

Rick met Lanie's mother and both of Jenny's parents, but only Kevin's father, because his mother was on a bussiness trip in Canada. Javi's parents had been really hospitable and even invited them all to have lunch there, but they decided not to.

When they finally arrived to Rick's apartment, they heard loud music and a voice echoing somewhere inside. Rick furrowed his brows, tried to think of what his mother might be doing and slowly unlocked the doors, then opened them. The gang carefully walked in, everyone but Rick checking out the apartment and followed him to the living room where they found his mother seated on the couch, watching one of her old movies and reciting all the lines.

The gang chuckled and Rick stepped around the couch to kiss his mother's cheek in greeting. Martha stopped talking, only to look back and find 5 pairs of eyes looking at her with a glint of amusement. She smiled to the visitors and stood up to go over to them.

'Oh Richard, this is a lovely surprise!' Rick grinned at Kate, who was looking at him in surprise. His mother approached her and extended a hand for Kate to shake.

'You must be Kate.' When the girl nodded, Martha continued, 'I've heard a lot of good things about you from Richard.' Kate smiled and blushed at Martha's intense stare, as if she was evaluating how much of whatever Rick had told her is real.

After a moment, Martha released her grip on Kate's hand and met the others, too. Of course she knew their names already, which wasn't that much of a surprise, seeing as Rick has certainly 'painted' the gang to her in a very colorful way, with lots of details.

They talked with Martha for a while, mostly because they wanted to hear embarrassing stories about Rick, but were interrupted by Martha's phone ringing. She excused herself and answered it.

'David, good afternoon. I thought we're seeing each other in the class today. Is everything alright?' There was a pause, which Rick used to stand a little closer to Kate who was leaning against the doorframe with a smile on her face. She was beautiful, just shining with her loveliness and kindness and all the best things that made her so undeniably unique.

Martha hung up and brought Rick's gaze away from Kate.

'Well darlings, it seems like I'll have to leave a little early today. I'll be back by 7 PM, though.'

She grabbed her purse and a script that was lying on the counter. As she strode towards the door and opened it, she looked back at all of them who were saying goodbye, and she winked, saying, 'Don't do anything I wouldn't do.' The door closed after her and left 6 grinning teenagers standing in the hall, looking at each other.

They all laughed when Rick said, 'Well that basically means we can do everything.' And then he led them to the couch, putting his hand in Kate's back, pushing her towards the desired destination eagerly. She looked at him, lifted an eyebrow and he just shrugged, then grinned as he felt her lean her back int his hand when he moved it just a bit lower.

Javi and Kev plopped down on the couch and their backpacks landed on the floor next to them with a thud.

'Man, this couch is comfortable.' Javis ighed and closed his eyes for a moment, but opened them when Kevin added, 'Yeah, you should be careful about us sneaking in at night to sleep on it.' Javier punched him in the shoulder and asked him, 'What is wrong with you man?' The girls laughed while Rick went to the kitchen for the phone to call for pizzas.

'So guys, which pizzas?' He dialed the number of Eddie's Pizza and ordered, 'Yeah hi, how are you? … Me too, thanks. We wondered if we could have some stuff delivered to 57 Sterling Avenue? … Great. So, one supreme pizza, one spicy pizza, two supreme pizzas with extra cheese and to drink we'll have one Mountain Dew, two orange juices, one Sprite and two Colas … How long? … 'Kay, thanks, that's great. Bye, have a nice day.' He ended the call and put the phone down.

'Well aren't you a _nice _guy.' Lanie smirked at him and he shrugged nonchalantly.

'I always talk like that when I talk on the phone.' He grinned when he heard Kate mumble 'Not just on the phone.'

'So, the pizzas will be here in half an hour, so we can pick a movie to watch?' The two boys shook their heads at him and waved him off as Lanie and Jenny joined them on the couch.

'You go ahead, I think I'd rather remain seated for now,' Javi told him and kissed Lanie.

Kate chuckled and looked to Kevin and Jenny who were kissing too, 'Gosh, they're so adorable.' Rick nodded with a big smile on his face and showed her where to go.

Javi and Kev stayed seated on the couch with their girlfriends on their laps, while Kate and Rick shuffled through the whole wall of DVDs.

'Oh my God Rick, why do you have so many DVDs? You can't possibly tell me you've watched all of them.' Kate's eyes widened when she heard him say, 'Actually, I _have _watched all of them.'He threw her a cocky smile, followed by a wink as he pulled out one of the DVDs.

She rolled her eyes at him, but grinned, 'Okay big guy, you choose the movie, I'm gonna go change.' He stepped closer to her and suggested, 'You know, I could come with you. See if you forgot to put anything on. Or rather, _off._' Kate blushed and slapped him on the chest. He rubbed the spot where she hit him and looked her up and down as she walked away, took her backpack and asked him, 'The bathroom's here, right?' She pointed to the door and he nodded, speechless. She grinned and closed the door after her.

When Kate finally emerged, dressed in dark blue shorts and a light blue t-shirt, Rick's jaw almost fell on the floor. She looked amazing, her hair tumbling down her shoulders and her posture showing that she was pretty comfortable.

Rick started walking towards her and met her just in the corner where nobody could see them standing too close, their breaths mingling together, creating a symphony of whimpers and rushed, hot exhales in their attempt to calm down their hearts. His hand lifted on its own accord and pushed a strand of hair behind Kate's ear. She closed her eyes at the sensation, feeling a bit overwhelmed at the way his hand skimmed her cheek, finding its resting place on her jaw, his thumb tracing small circles on her skin.

He carefully leaned in, saw her eyes pop open, tracing a line from his eyes to his mouth. He suppresed a smile and whispered in her ear, 'You're so beautiful.' She shivered upon hearing those words and at the contact his lips made with the skin on her cheek when he nuzzled his nose against it. He placed his other hand on her hip, his fingers digging in the soft material of her t-shirt.

Only when he pressed his lips to her cheek did she find her strength, so she lifted her hands and fisted them in hisshirt, pulling him closer to her, trying to make him stay where he is.

'I'm not going anywhere, Kate.' She shuddered at the thought that he could read her mind and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, breathing in her scent; cherries, with a hint of vanilla.

It felt so right, just standing there hugging her and burrying his face in her hair.

They were interrupted from their moment when somene knocked at the front door. He let go of her slowly, let his hands fall down. He turned around and opened the door as she bit her lip, trying to figure out what had just happened.

'Lovebirds, the pizza's here!' He shouted from the front door as soon as he paid the delivery guy and set their lunch/dinner on the counter in the kitchen. Javi and Kevin were practically drooling over their pizzas, but Rick managed to tear them away until he served all the ladies. Just as he tried to hand out the Cola for Kate, his hand, along with the drink of course, bumped into someone's chest. He looked up at Kate's unamused eyes looking at the mess he made.

'Gosh Rick, you had to, didn't you?' She glanced up and saw him smiling apologeticaly to her.

'I'm really sorry. Do you have anything else to put on?' Her face paled suddenly as she realised that she didn't bring more comfy clothes with her.

'Oh God. No I, um … I don't have more of the comfortable clothes with me.' She sighed in desperation and ran her hands through her hair.

He felt bad for doing this to her, so he offered, 'Well you could use some of my clothes.' She looked up at him suddenly, her mouth opened and her eyes widened.

'I mean, only if you want to, but you can't stay in those sticky clothes and you know that. I wouldn't mind you wearing my clothes, though.' He smiled and she bit her lip, trying to decide which option is better; to walk around with her sticky t-shirt on, or to put on his soft clothes which smell like him. She had nothing to think about seeing as option 2 was definitely more desirable.

'Fine, lead the way.' He grinned at her while leading her down the hall to the wooden door which led to his room.

The rest of the gang watched it all enthusiasticly and they couldn't help but grin at their adorable awkwardness.

His room was nothing like Kate had expected. She thought his room would look like every other boys', it was just the fact that his room was more sophisticated and tidier, that's for sure. The wall opposite the bed was painted with black color and white, small dots, which represented the stars and the bigger ones, planets, she supposed. The wall by his window was blue, as clear as the sky if she looked out at it. The other two walls were painted with black and red color, everything just fitting together, like pieces of the puzzle. She was quite impressed at the mahogany bed standing in the corner of the room, the black, wooden desk at the other corner with a laptop resting on it. There were two closets in his room and they were both faced towards the window.

'You like it?' She was startled by his voice behind her, so she jumped a bit, but cleared her throat and said, 'Yeah, actually. It's very … how should I put this … it's very unlike every guy's room. It fits you, though.' Rick's smile got even bigger and he offered, 'Oh, so you think I'm something special?' She blushed and answered, 'No, Rick. I _know _you're something special.' Then she smiled coyly at him and laughed at his flustered face.

'Um, thanks.' She nodded and he continued, 'Here's a t-shirt. It's probably a little big for you but, yeah.' Kate took the red shirt from him and went to change in the bathroom.

He was waiting for her by the door and pulled her in his room one more time.

'What are you doing?' she asked with an amused smile on her face. He went to the other side of the room and only then did she notice what was sitting in the corner.

A beautiful brown acoustic guitar, which looked a little old, but what was the best is that it had an autograph on the front, black letters scribbled across the light-brown wood. It didn't take long for her to recognize it, the curves of the words making her gasp.

_To Richard,_

_music is in your heart._

_Kurt Cobain_

'You have a freaking autograph from Kurt Cobain!' She was still staring at the black ink, reading the words over and over again, as if it would help her understand.

He brought the guitar over to her, 'Look at it closer if you don't believe me.' She looked up at him, then took the instrument carefully in her hands. She read it again. It was as true as it could be.

'How the hell do you have a guitar in your room signed by Kurt Cobain? You weren't even alive when he was!' He grinned and told her to sit on the bed, then he took the guitar from her, sat down next to her and positioned the instrument for playing.

He strummed a chord, then said, 'The guitar was my uncle's.' He strummed another chord and continued, 'He took my mom to Nirvana concert when she was 14 years old. When it was over, they went to uncle Richard's car, which was parked in a quiet area near the stadium where the concert took place. They planned to go straight back home, but Richard wanted to play a little, so he took _this_ guitar out of his car and sat on the hood of the car, playing and singing along. My mom said that in the middle of the song, somebody started clapping and when they looked up, they saw Kurt and his buddies standing there.'

Kate's eyes widened and she looked down at Rick's fingers when he played another chord.

'Based on what my mother told me and how much she remembers, Kurt said to my uncle that he's really good and that he should follow his heart anywhere he goes. Uncle Richard asked him for an autograph and this,' he brushed his thumb across the words written on the guitar, 'is what he wrote him. My uncle didn't see what Kurt wrote until he couldn't see him anymore and when he looked down and read it, he knew that he will never give up on his music. Because that is the one place that can give you freedom when you feel like you're trapped in this world.'

He brought his gaze up and saw Kate looking at him with shining eyes, smiling tenderly.

He smiled back and started playing a song, singing along.

_There's so many things that I could say,_

_but I'm sure it would come out all wrong._

_You got something that I can't explain,_

_still I try and try and let you know._

He continued to sing and play, with his eyes either closed or focused on hers.

When he finished, his eyes opened and settled on hers. She bit her lip and tilted her head to one side, studying his face and the way his eyebrows lifted when he smiled.

'Did your uncle learn you how to play a guitar?' He shook his head and answered her, 'No, I actually learned myself how to play.' She grinned at him and said, 'Impressive.'

He snorted and told her, 'Actually, my uncle Richard started teaching me, I started playing when I was in 4th grade, but after two years I stopped because he died and it just broke me. I gave up and did what Kurt told my uncle not to ever do. My mom noticed that I hadn't touched my guitar since that day and that's when she told me about my uncle's guitar. She put it in my hands and told me the whole story and when she left me alone in my room with this guitar and those words written on it I felt like uncle was there and he didn't want me to give up on my music. So I started playing again.'

He stood up and put the guitar back in the corner, then lingered there for a few moments before walking back to the bed. He stood before her as she was leaning back on the bed, her arms extended behind her back to support her. Rick leaned forward, braced his hands on the bed and leaned in, close to Kate's face. He felt her exhale loudly, felt her shift her hands to come closer to him.

'Do you play any instrument, Kate?' She closed her eyes at the feeling of his voice, so deep and rich, so close to her, just barely an inch, settle down in her core.

'Yes.' It came out more as a sigh, but he understood it and smiled. He shifted his weight to his left arm as he brought his right hand to her jaw.

'What do you play?' His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper.

'Rick…' She opened her eyes, found him too close to be able to hold back, closed her eyes again. She felt him come closer still, his thumb brushing her lower lip, parting her lips, her breath coming out in short gasps.

Just as their noses brushed, they heard footsteps and someone calling their names. They broke apart quickly, Kate jumping off the bed, but bumping Rick's chest in the process.

The door opened and Lanie walked in, found them standing next to the bed, Rick grinning and Kate blushing fiercely. Lanie narrowed her eyes suspiciously while smirking at them.

'Kate, you certainly look comfortable.' She looked at her t-shirt, her grin not fading.

Kate rolled her eyes and stepped out of Rick's room while Lanie laughed at her red face.

When they were all back in the living room, seated on the blankets, which were spread out on the floor and with pizzas in the middle, Kate and Rick faced a problem. He spilled her Cola all over her shirt, so now they only had one.

'We could share,' she suggested and his eyebrows shot up, his face nodding instantly, agreeing with her seemingly logical solution.

She laughed at his excitement and said, 'You don't have to be so excited, you know.' He grinned and took a sip of the drink, then passed it to her. She put her mouth around the straw and sucked the cold, bubbly drink, then swallowed it with a moan and a smirk on her face.

Then she licked her lips and slowly said, 'That was good.' She flashed him a wicked grin as she pushed the cup back into his hands, then picked up a slice of pizza, walking with it to the couch, sitting down on the floor with blankets and pillows all around her.

He looked down at the cup he was holding and couldn't resist taking a sip. He could swear that he was able to taste her on the straw, in the cold beverage, and he was flooded with a sudden urge to grab her and kiss her to feel how she really tastes.

He groaned at the thought and closed his eyes, licked his lips. He was brought out of his daydreaming when Javi called out to him, 'Hey man, you coming?' Rick nodded and said, 'Yeah, I… Yeah,' then walked over to the couch, careful not to look at Kate and her inviting lips.

That plan was quickly thrown away though, as he realized that he was supposed to sit next to her on the floor, sharing the blankets, surrounded by pillows and darkness, if they wanted to watch the movie properly.

He set the drink down on the coffee table near the couch and shut the blinds on the windows, the only light in the room only the blue glow of the TV, then sat down next to Kate, both of them leaning back against tthe couch. He noticed Kate picking up their drink, glancing at him, smiling to herself.

He forced himself to look away from her mouth and started the movie, then shifted closer to Kate. As soon as their thighs touched, they felt shocks of electricity travel through their bodies, a simple touch making their hearts beat faster. They looked at each other and Kate winked at him, crossed her legs so her knee was now lying on the top of his thigh, her hands wrapped around the cup.

He closed his eyes for a moment, tried to get her off his mind by thinking about basketball, but that only made him remember her athletic body and the way she looked at him yesterday. He clenched his fists, opened his eyes and settled them on the TV screen, not really following the movie.

Kate saw his nervous face and she moved her left hand, so that it was covering one of his fists on his lap. He looked down and saw her fingers curl around his, his hand softening under her touch. Their eyes met and she smiled at him, pulling their joined hands in her own lap. She intertwined their fingers and it suddenly strucked him that it felt like they have done this before, because it was so oddly familiar.

He cleared his throat and looked up at the two couples, saw them kissing and he smiled.

He mouth went dry when she saw the muscles in his neck move, his head moving up, looking at their friends. She tried to look away from the skin and his adam's apple, tried to convince herself that she doesn't want to kiss it. But _oh_, how easy it would be to just do it. If she would just lean a little further, press a kiss to the place where she knew it would make him gasp. She let out a quiet moan, pressed her hand to her mouth to stop her from saying or doing anything more, but it was too late anyway, because he heard her and looked at her with an amused smile, his eyes twinkling. Her gaze dropped back to his throat as he swallowed and when he laughed soundlessly, she realized that he knew what was making her so jumpy and all.

She let her hand fall next to their joined ones as she felt the hotness on her cheeks grow stronger and she tried to look back at the movie, but was stopped when she felt his breath on her ear. He laughed quietly again, only for her ears and whispered, 'What's wrong, Kate?'

She concentrated on the way her knee pressed into his abdomen, his shirt warm and soft under her skin.

She sighed, pressed her cheek to his and said, 'Shut up.' He laughed again, her knee shaking with him and she had to close her eyes, inhale his scent, rub his cheek against his just once. She felt him shudder when her hand came up to his neck, her nails digging in his skin and felt him lean his body towards her more, one of his hands coming up to her knee, wrapping around it to push it away, so he could come closer to her. His nose brushed the skin under her ear as she slipped her fingers under the collar of his t-shirt, then dragging them out softly, felt him shiver, his lips touching her throbbing artery on her neck.

She opened her eyes as he spoke again, his voice low and husky, 'Your heart is racing.' This time _she_ laughed, let her hand drop to the side of his neck under his ear, feeling his heartbeat. 'It's trying to keep up with yours.' He chuckled, whispered 'It's your all your fault,' couldn't hold himself back anymore, closed his eyes, slowly pressed a kiss on her skin.

The feel of his lips there made her dizzy and she looked up at the couch to see if any of their friends was looking. Apparently not, seeing as they were so absorbed in each other that they completely forgot about everything else around them, pretty much the same as Rick and Kate.

She succeeded in convincing herself if it's worth to push him away, tell him it's too soon, when she felt his tongue on her skin and she gasped, her hand on his neck flying in his hair. Another kiss on her shivering skin, this time involving teeth among tongue and lips and she was sure that she was going to lose control and just kiss him, when he pulled back suddenly, grinned at her and looked at her lips while licking his, tasting her skin on his tongue, a delicious fact that made him grin even wider.

She realized that her hand was still in his hair and she pulled it back to her slowly, letting it touch the place on her neck where his lips had been just 3 seconds ago. He saw it and winked at her, laughing again, looking back up at the rest of the gang who had just stopped kissing.

She rolled her eyes and told him, 'Your timing really _is_ perfect.' He chuckled and shrugged, then they both turned to the screen, trying to catch up with the movie, still holding hands.

Halfway through, Kate rested her head on his shoulder, surrounded by his warmth as she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling her scent in. She smiled, happy and comfortable and relaxed.

When the movie ended, they joked around for a while, talked about everything, laughing and teasing. By the time they decided to play Truth or Dare, Rick already up on his feet to get an empty plastic bottle, Martha showed up at the door, grinning and being overdramatic as always.

'Children, I see you made yourself pretty comfortable.' Rick nodded and kissed her cheek, then plopped back down on the pillows and blankets on the floor, taking Kate's hand in his without realizing it. Martha's eyes widened and she smiled at them softly, then turned to speak with the couples when she saw Kate blushing and looking down at their knotted fingers.

'How are you? Is Richard taking good care of you?' Rick laughed with the rest of the group while shaking his head at his mother. 'You know, they can take care of themselves, besides I'm a pretty good host.' He waggled his eyeborws, felt a punch in his chest, not too hard but it still hurt a little and looked at Kate who was grinning helplessly, 'Don't flatter yourself.' Everyone laughed and Martha went to the kitchen, opened the fridge and came back with two boxes of ice cream and 6 spoons.

'Well, you deserved this, because I didn't notice anything wrong and I hope it stays like that. I wasn't known as very responsible back in my young age and it was quite a lot of fun, but I do hope you are at least a bit different than me.' The gang grinned at her and nodded, took the ice cream and the spoons from her as Rick said, 'Don't worry mother, that we are.' Martha pinched her son's cheek as he tried to use Kate as a shield and then she excused herself to her room, wished them good night and disappeared from the living room.

Rick still had his hands on Kate's arms, looking over her shoulder to the hallway where his mother had been, when he felt her turn around and swat his chest.

'You would use _me _as a _shield_?' He put his hands up to shield himself from her, but he only got an eyeroll and a soft kick in his shin. He grinned at her and then stood up again to go find that plastic bottle they were talking about before his mother interrupted them.

When he came back, they were all already eating the ice cream, enjoying themselves and laughing at something Lanie said. He narrowed his eyes when he saw no sixth spoon for himself and looked at Kate, only to see her holding two spoons in her hand, waving at him seductively. He rolled his eyes and went over to her, meanwhile dropping the empty bottle on the floor. He reached out just as she was trying to put a full spoon of ice cream in her mouth and saw her eyes widen. He only grabbed her hand and directed the spoon towards his mouth, licking it clean as he felt the ice cream melt on his tongue.

Her eyes darkened for a tint as she watched him swallow the chocolate ice cream, happy with himself. She chuckled as she saw some of the comfort food stuck in the corner of his mouth and he looked at her with furrowed brows and a questioning look in his eyes.

She shook her head and wiped the ice cream off his face, touching his lips in the process, of course, then putting the same finger in her mouth and licking it clean to get rid of the chocolate. She could tell that he was shocked and she grinned at him, noticing the smirk on Lanie's face.

'Girl, you have to stop messing around with him, I think he's not gonna live for much longer if you keep doing these kinds of things to him.' Kate laughed and looked back at Rick who looked like he stopped breathing. Just as she wanted to tell him to breathe, he inhaled and put his hand on his heart. 'I think I'm already dead.' Everyone laughed, including Kate who shrugged when he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

One hour and about 40 dares and truths later, the gang was laughing so hard that the tears were pooling in their eyes. The dares that Rick gave were the best and the funniest and he had the most amazing ideas about everything.

Kevin spinned the bottle around and it stopped so that Rick had to choose between truth and dare and Kate was the one who had to tell him what to do or what to answer. She was waiting on this moment because she had a great idea about a dare he could do, so she was kind of excited.

'Hmm, I pick dare. I bet you have some dirty things on your mind, Katherine.' Hearing her full first name coming from his mouth she leaned closer and told him, 'Oh, you have no idea.' He gulped and she laughed along with the rest of the gang, then asked, 'Truth or dare, Richard?' He lifted his fist and put it in his mouth, then said, 'It's so _hot _when you call me Richard.' Kate laughed again and Kevin told him, 'Bro, your mom calls you Richard.' Everyone laughed and he rolled his eyes, looked at Kate, then corrected himself, 'It's so hot when _you _call me Richard, then.' Kate smirked and offered, 'Anytime, Richard.' He groaned and the room was filled with laughter once again.

'I pick dare.' Kate grinned and said, 'Very well. You have to go to your room, bring your guitar here and play something.' She heard gasps coming from the other 4 people in the room and Jenny asked Rick, 'You play the guitar? Why haven't I heard anything about that?' He smiled sheepishly and told them, 'No one asked and I'm not really keen on bragging about things. I'll go get my guitar. Be right back.' Kate watched him go, movements of the muscles on his back making her bite her lip.

'Kate!' She spun her head around to Lanie, who was shaking her head at her.

'What, Lanie?' Her friend rolled her eyes and told her again, 'I was telling you that your boyfriend there is a really good guy.' Kate blushed. 'He's not my boyfriend Lanie, you know that.' Lanie grinned and winked at her, 'I know, but it sure looks like it to me.' Kate's blush deepened, just as Rick walked back into the room, holding his guitar in his hands, but it was a different one than the one he was playing earlier in his room.

Kate narrowed her eyes and almost asked him something, when he passed the guitar to the couples first, then sat down next to her and whispered, so that no one would hear, 'I'll explain it later.' She nodded and smiled, then relaxed and took a sip of water from the glass he brought her earlier.

When he got his black-turquoise guitar back in his hands, he cleared his throat and strummed the first chord, then looked at Kate, winked and started playing This Time by Jonathan Rhys Meyers from the movie he watched in the summer called August Rush. That movie also helped him realize how much music really meant to him and that's the one thing he could never regret.

He really did have an amazing voice; not too loud and not too quiet, not too high or too low, and what was the best was the fact that the affection, his love for music could be heard in the way he sang, in the way his eyes closed, the way his lips moved, his fingers strummed the chords, the rhythm of the song matching the one of his voice. She was fascinated by that. She always felt like she knew what music was all about and maybe she did, but now, watching him fall so completely into the song he was playing, she realized that even if she herself played an instrument and enjoyed doing it, that she has never met anyone in her life who would be so devoted to music.

When he finished playing, his eyes opened and the first person he looked at was Kate. Seeing her smile so tender, her eyes misty, he felt overwhelmed by her beauty and how she could make him feel like the luckiest person in the world just by looking at him like that, by looking at him any way, as long as her eyes were fixed on him.

He smiled back at her and everyone clapped, the boys clearly interested in his skills and the girls clearly affected by the song.

An hour later, they decided on watching another movie. Kate offered to pick one and as she was standing before the bookshelves filled with DVDs, she felt someone breathing down her neck, but it didn't feel uncomfortable, it felt wonderful, his hot breath across her skin. He noticed that one side of the shirt has ridden down a bit, exposing her right shoulder, her skin such a light to the darkness of the room. He lifted his hand and touched it, his fingertips dancing lightly on her delicate skin. He felt her lean back into him a bit and he spoke quietly, 'I only ever showed that guitar to my mom and my uncle Richard saw it of course, and another friend of mine, then you. I show it only to the people who are speacial to me.' Her head spun around and she looked at him carefully, saw him smiling at her with warm eyes.

He tried to say something more, when they heard laughter coming from the couch, startling them. He dropped his hand and looked down at the DVD she was holding.

'Valentine's Day? Yeah, not really the best one. Here, try this,' he said and took a DVD from the shelve nearby. 'August Rush. It's a beautiful one, I promise you won't be sorry.' She nodded her head slightly, took the DVD from his hands, then crouched down in front of the DVD player. Once she put it in, they went back to the couch, noticing that only Kev and Jenny were now occupying it, Javi and Lanie sitting on the floor whispering to each other. Kate and Rick shared a knowing look and grinned at the happy couple.

They sat down next to Lanie and Javier and made themselves comfortable before Rick pressed play and the movie started. It was filled with love and music and love for music, speaking to the one who was watching it, telling them that music is all around us and all they have to do is listen. It made Kate think about everything that she has ever played, about every single piano key that she pressed, about every note she saw, played, wrote, it made her realize that there's more to life than what we see.

And meeting Rick yesterday has proven that point to her. She never loved her life as much as she did in this particular moment, snuggled up against Rick's side, her head resting on her chest with his arms around her. It felt like a dream to her. She always knew that she had a good life, that she was a good person, but now, throwing all those stupid things that she had done in the past away, she realized that her life has been nothing but kind to her.

She looked up at Rick by the end of the movie and saw him almost cry and she couldn't help but think how she would be spending this night if she didn't meet him. She'd probably be stuck at home, lonely, or at a party, trying to fit in like always, but not really succeeding all the way. It didn't matter what she would be doing, because she was here with her best friends and the people who she loved the most aside from her family, so she felt as warm and content as possible, feeling every nerve in her body relaxing, her ability to stay awake slowly fading, her eyelids closing and the last thing she could see was the end of the movie, a smile and Rick's hand lifting up to stroke her cheek.

**Yeah, that's it for now. **

**And The Blue Butterfly was amazing, just saying. **


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter is actually kind of short. I'm not too satisfied with it, but I don't know. So um, review and save me from my doubts? Pretty please?**

**CHAPTER 5: IT'S THE FIRST THING ****YOU SEE AS YOU OPEN YOUR EYES**

The sun woke Rick up the next morning. The blinds weren't shut anymore and the streams of blinding light peaked through the glass windows. He blinked and tried to lift his arms to stretch, but noticed that they were wrapped around something. Or even better, some_one_. He grinned as he remembered putting his arms around Kate the previous night and the first he saw when he opened his eyes was her sleeping form. He never would have pegged Katherine Beckett for a snuggler, but _oh what a snuggler _she was. She was lying on her left side, her left arm folded between their bodies, her fist resting in the crook of her neck. Her right arm was placed carefully on his chest, her hand melted into his t-shirt, right over his heart. The best thing was that her head was lying on his shoulder, her hair drapped over his arm and wedging it's way between his fingers. He lifted a strand of her chestnut locks and played with it, remembering all the things that happened yesterday. He was smiling like an idiot and it only got bigger when the girl next to him inhaled deeply, stirred and smiled. He held his breath, trying not to startle her, but he failed because she stiffened when she opened her eyes sleepily.

'Hey, it's just me,' he whispered into her hair, felt her relax slightly against him. He pulled the blanket a bit higher up over them and felt her exhale against his t-shirt, her hot breath burning the skin under the material. Her fingers on his chest curled into a ball, pulling the fabric between her knuckles with it, making him shudder.

'Are you cold?' Her voice was still a little rough from the sleep and his heart fluttered at the thought that _she _was the one who wouldn't let go of him.

'No. Are you?' She shook her head lightly against his shoulder then twined one of her legs with one of his own. He closed his eyes, tried to calm down his heart, which had sped up visibly since she woke up.

They heard noises in the kitchen after a few minutes and Rick lifted his head to try to see if his mother was there. Kate grumbled and pushed his head back down with her hand. She looked up to see his expression, because she was sure that he stopped breathing. She grinned at him and then burried her nose in the crook of his neck, heard herself let out a sigh of contentment as he ran his hand up her arm, her eyes closed to try and savor these little touches and moments if they'd ever stop, which she hoped would never happen.

After five minutes of lying on the pile of blankets and pillows, they opened their eyes simultaneously as they heard Javi groan and Lanie wish him good morning. Kate turned her head back to Rick with a smile, closing her eyes again, not caring if anyone saw her cuddled up with Richard Rodgers.

Lanie and Javi didn't fully wake up though, only went back to sleep. Everyone else was still asleep and Rick turned onto his side, facing Kate now, his left arm coming to drape over her hip. She opened her eyes and looked at him sleepily, smiling still, like she couldn't get rid of that stupid smile on her face even if the end of the world was coming. She moaned her approval as he pushed her closer to him, her forehead bumping his chin, her lips pressed to his collarbone.

There was no way, _no way_, that Rick would ever forget the little kiss she planted on his skin then, all previous signs of sleepiness escaping his body with his mouth as he groaned. He was fully awake now, every nerve in his body reacting to Kate's touch, her fingers, legs and lips making him feel dizzy, like he wasn't getting enough oxygen to his lungs.

She laughed softly and drew her head back to look at him.

'You okay there, big guy?' He pressed his lips together to stop himself from groaning again and nodded. She laughed again and ran her hand from his lower back to the soft hair at his neck, tugging gently, bringing his head closer to her.

'What's your mom doin' in the kitchen?' He frowned a little, really curious why she had to bring up his mother and answered her, 'Don't know, don't care,' burried his nose in her hair, inhaling, saving the smell of it in his memory.

She pursed her lips to keep from laughing and then suddenly extracted herself away from him and the warmth he offered, created with his body.

He was confused with her abrupt escape and grabbed her arm before she could stand up completely. Bad idea, though, as she came tumbling back down and fell right on top of him.

He let out a small 'puff' of air at the contact, the air being knocked out of his lungs when their bodies collided. She groaned and tried to sit up, but he stopped her by bringing his hand to her neck, pulling her back down to lie on top of him.

Her eyes widened, her muscles flexed, her brain telling her to get off him as soon as possible, but she just couldn't force herself to destroy this little bubble they've created.

He pouted at her and asked her, 'Why are you moving?' She rolled her eyes and lifted her arm to point towards the kitchen where his mother was standing, balancing mugs of hot chocolate on a plate, slowly walking to the living room coffee table to put it down.

Rick frowned and said, 'Let her do it.' She laughed and tried to stand up, when she felt him bite her neck. She gasped, wrapped her legs around his, lowered her head. He smirked, lifted his body off the ground, saw his mother put the tray on the dining table as she pulled out her phone and answered it quietly while walking to her bedroom.

He looked back at Kate's face and then at her lips, saw her bite them. He suddenly realized their position; he was sitting on the floor with her in his lap and he was finding it hard to breathe. She stared at him in amusement, decided to tease him just a bit, so she whispered in his ear, her voice low and dark, 'You can really let go of me now, Richard.'

He pressed his hands into her back, trying to get her closer to him. She laughed, bit his earlobe, pushed him back so that he was lying on the floor again, her legs still wrapped around his waist. She leaned down and threatened, 'When I want to stand up, I stand up, you get that? Unless you want to experience some injuries. Understood?'

He was affected by her straddling him, so it was kind of hard for him to understand what she was saying, but still, he grinned and nodded.

Kate stood up and went to wake the others, smirking.

Soon, the whole gang was awake, sipping the hot chocolate with marshmellows, sitting on the floor of the living room, laughing and talking.

Just as Kate was lifting her mug to her lips to take a sip, Rick's arm bumped into hers and she spilled some of the hot beverage on her/his (_did it matter anymore?) _t-shirt. He opened his eyes to say that he's sorry but she beat him to it.

'I think you're gonna have to lend me another t-shirt, just because you're too clumsy.' He smiled sheepishly at her and said that he's sorry and everyone laughed while Rick and Kate stood up and went to his room.

Rick searched his closet while Kate was looking out of the window at the street below and the Grizzly Peak Park.

'Here, I think that should be relatively small.' She turned around and thanked him, grabbed the shirt from him, then walked out.

He sat down on the bed, pulling his laptop with him. He checked his facebook, saw he had some notifications and messages. When he was scrolling through the new messages, he saw that Josh Davidson has written to him. He opened it and read, his fists clenching on the keyboard, his eyes filling with rage.

Kate returned from the bathroom and went back to Rick's room to drag him back to the living room. She opened the door and found him sitting on the bed with the laptop in his lap. He looked angry and she was wondering what the hell happened to make him like that.

'Rick?' she asked, quiet and just a bit insecure. His head immediately lifted to look at her and his expression visibly softened, before he looked back down and ran his hands through his hair. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to him, running a hand up his back to curl at his neck.

'What's wrong?' He sighed and shifted the laptop a bit, so she could look at the screen. She read the message and felt her own anger rising up in her throat, wanting to go to Josh's place to punch him in the face.

_Leave Kate alone. She's mine and you ain't gonna have her. If I see you anywhere near her on Monday, you're gonna get your ass kicked. So leave her to me, unless you want to be beaten up. Plus, what she was telling you guys around, that we didn't have anything over the summer, she was lying. We spent a great night together, she's pretty good in bed, actually, and if she's such a pussy to not tell you, then I'm gonna be the one telling you. Just keep your hands off her and we're cool. _

She stood up and leaned her head against the wall. She felt him behind her before she heard him speak.

'Is it true?' She closed her eyes to try and get rid of the hurt in his voice, straightened herself up and turned around to face him. The pain evident on his face was worse than the one in his voice and she felt so furious for Josh doing that to him, but she realized that it was kind of her fault, too.

'None of that happened, Rick.' He snorted sarcastically and said, 'Bullshit, Kate. You saw what he wrote.' Now she was getting angry with Rick for not believing her.

'Nothing happened, okay? He's lying.' He crossed his arms on his chest and asked her, 'How do I know that _you're _not lying?' She rolled her eyes and raised her voice a bit.

'Because even if we've known each other for only three days, you know me! You know me better than him and you know that I would never be with him and I would never do anything like that with him!' He didn't look convinced though and she pulled one of his hands away from him to put it on the place where her heart was. He was surprised and didn't even bother to hide it.

'Because, Rick… Because everytime you're close I feel like I've never felt before, because everytime we touch my heart starts beating faster. Can you feel that?' He looked like he was consdering something, his eyes cast down on the hand splayed over her heart, like he was listening and actually _hearing, _feeling her and her heartbeat.

He nodded once. 'You can't tell me that you don't feel the same.' He looked back up in her eyes and whispered, 'I can't.' She shivered with the meaning of those words and told him, 'I would never lie to you, Rick. _Never._' He stared at her for a long moment, then took a tentative step forward.

'What if I still don't believe you?' She bit her lip and looked at their feet, his coming closer to hers. When she looked back up, he was standing only half an inch away.

'You can ask Lanie. I would have told her if anything like that would've happened.' He nodded and then let a little smile lit up his face.

'I believe you,' he breathed and leaned in to kiss her cheek, so close to the corner of her mouth that she had to close her eyes.

'I believe you.' His arms wrapped around her, to pull her in a hug and she willingly came, relieved that he did.

'Are we okay?' He laughed in her hair, the sound melting her insides, her heart speeding up with the fact that they were as he nodded.

They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the warmth of each other.

'We should probably go, you know. They're gonna start wondering where we are.' She sighed and said, 'Yeah, we probably should.'

They pulled away and smiled awkwardly, then slowly went back to the living room and the people in there.

Their friends didn't tease them too much and it was visible that they obviously sensed something different about them and their energy.

The morning passed by slowly, consisting of talking and telling stories and eating toast, drinking tea and just enjoying each other's company. It felt kind of amazing, really, that they've just met Rick and they were already so comfortable around him and being able to open up like they were doing right now just felt _right_. In every sense of the way. Being among friends and having a good time, not wondering if there's anyone out there who wishes you bad, who wants you to not have a good life.

And maybe Kate was happy and her family's connection was so strong that it was quite amazing, but she knew what it cost them to get where they were now. She found it oddly sad that she had to suffer through so many things and so many hours, days, weeks alone just asking herself where does she go next? What's waiting for her? What's going to happen tomorrow? The day after tomorrow? So many questions and without any solid answers and looking back at it now, she realized that there was so much to lose right in this moment and even back then, that there were so many good things that she couldn't risk losing and she realized how stupid she was to even think about that in the past.

'Penny for your thoughts?' She startled and tried to find her words, then exhaled and shrugged.

'Just thinking.' He smiled at her and asked, 'What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?' She grinned and shook her head at him, lowered her head, decided not to tell him the truth just yet. She would have to wait a little with him finding about the darkest era of her life, because she couldn't face his judgment. Not yet anyway.

'I was just thinking about life.' He tilted his head to the side a bit, looked at her questioningly. Ah, she needed to explain her view on life now, didn't she?

'It's just that…I don't know. Eveything's been different, kind of, since I've met you and it's so weird that I'm here right now with you and the gang and just overthinking this like so many times. I don't…I guess it feels kind of stupid, now that I voiced that. I…Yeah.' She played with her fingers, pulled the hem of her/Rick's shirt a bit lower, bit her lip.

'You're right.' Her head snapped back up and saw him looking at her with the blue eyes, so deep and dark that it seemed as though they were more blue than the sea itself. Now that she thought about that, she realized that everything on him was actually so much better than the normal, average person.

'I mean, this is kind of strange for me too. I'm pretty sure that I haven't had this much fun in a while and I find it kind of funny, really. I've always been known after making some of the hardest teachers laugh.' She had to laugh at that. Plus, she saw how he could charm anyone into doing anything, so there wasn't much doubt present in her mind.

'But I'm really glad that you're here. All of you. This whole new high school thing just seems more real like this.' She nodded and looked at the couples chatting happily by the window, sipping their tea.

'Kate?' She turned back towards him, found him an inch closer than he was before. She smiled and stood, picked up her cup of tea, wandered over to the kitchen, bare feet against the cold tiles, sending shivers down her spine, goosebumps erupting on her skin, making her grip the warm mug tighter.

She saw him stand up after her, coming to seat next to her on the high chairs at the bar. She lifted her tea to her lips, took a slow sip, savouring the taste and the warmth the beverage offered. Her eyes closed without her permission and she struggled to open them again.

He was looking at her with curiousity, seemingly eager to find out what she's thinking about. She chuckled and placed the mug on the cold surface of the bar, studying the lines of the black marble counter.

He nudged her foot with his, prompted her to go on, to tell him what she's being so weird about.

She took a long, purposeful breath, resting her elbows on the counter.

'It's a long story. And it's kind of really personal and it's a part of me, even though it's over now, but still. Now's not the time or the place to talk about that and I'm not ready and I'm scared about what you're going to think about me, I'm scared that you will judge me.' She put her hand up to stop him from talking, because she wasn't finished yet.

'I know it feels like we've known each other a lifetime, but it's…This thing is not that easy for me to tell and it certainly isn't the nicest thing to tell. Just keep waiting. I'm not ready to tell you about that yet.'

She looked him in the eyes and saw him nod, his eyes sparkling. She leaned closer and whispered, 'But that doesn't mean we shouldn't have fun in the meantime, does it?' He grinned and winked at her. She laughed, taking the mug between her hands again, finding peace in the way the liquid trailed down her throat.

It was 12.30 PM by the time they decided to leave and they were all sad about having to part. They'd see each other Monday if not sooner, and that was quite okay too. Castle hugged everyone goodbye, Kate being the last person left in the apartment, standing next to the door while her friends were waiting for her at the end of the hallway, obviously trying to give them some privacy.

He smiled, pulled her in for a hug, breathed her in.

He snorted, asked her curiously, 'Has anyone ever told you that you smell like cherries?' She pulled back her head to look at him, blushing. He laughed at her flustered face, pressed his cheek to hers, ran his hand through her hair, the soft ends tickling his face where it pressed to her head.

She hummed, the sound vibrating through his body and he only held her tighter. She laughed. Couldn't stop herself from doing it. Not really.

'You have to let me go if you want me to breathe ever again.' He mumbled an apology in her ear, kissed her cheek briefly, pulling his arms away from her body. She grinned and shook her head, turned away, called over her shoulder, 'See you.' He nodded, eyes watching her stride towards the elevator where the others were waiting, seeing her turn back for a second, her smile satisfied, content. The little tease. She knew that she left him wanting to hold her for at least a little while longer, but she didn't grant his wish. He narrowed her eyes at her retreating form, think how…beautiful she was. He realized that he hadn't told her that today yet and he almost slapped himself.

And as their eyes locked and the elevator doors closed on their gaze, he felt calm, happy. He knew that she might as well just be the best thing he's ever found in his entire life and that thought sent his mind spiralling forwards, skipping years, wondering how their wedding would be. He shook his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts, reminding himself that they may not even be together anymore by that time. He shuddered at that, tried to think of something happier, remembered suddenly that she still had his shirt, haven't said a word about it. He grinned, his hands in the pocket of his shorts, realizing he's still standing in the hallway grinning like a fool.

He closed the door, went to the pile of blankets and pillows on the floor, plopped down on them, closing his eyes, inhaling deeply, opening his eyes again as he breathed in her scent, that amazing mixture of sweet and salty, cherries, vanilla and the salt from her skin. He shivered with the urge to run after her, lick her throat, feeling that pulsing point under his mouth and her hands in his hair.

He made a mental note to ask her what perfume she wears because that piece of knowledge was just as important as knowing how much 2+2 is. If he didn't know that, he was afraid he might fail the class where Katherine Elizabeth Beckett is the only thing they're talking about.

He grinned at the thought of being in such a class and he was quite sure about the fact that he would certainly be the one who knew the most about her, the one who could appreciate her and the things she does the most.

He turned so that he was lying on his back and stared at the ceiling for a long minute. He contemplated moving, standing up to go get a shower or something, decided against it, knowing he would go for a run and needed a shower after it anyway. So he just lied there, thinking about every single memorable moment he spent with her.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone vibrated, announcing that he got a text. He sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket, seeing the text was from Kate. He grinned, opened it.

_Hey, just wanted to tell you I'll bring your shirt to school on Monday. _

He typed her back a reply with a big smile nn his face.

_You don't have to. You can keep it if you want. ;) _

_Um, thanks? You don't have to, though._

_Consider it as a gift._

_Okay then. Have fun._

_Can I have fun with you?_

She furrowed her brows, bit her lip.

_Would you like to come with me to The Blue Butterfly tonight?_

_You mean that new club on Parker street?_

He grinned, stood up and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee for his mother.

_That's the one. The rest of the gang can come too. You interested?_

She thought about it for a second or two. She knew that she'd have a great time if she wdnt and having the rest of their friends would probably keep her from doing anything stupid with him.

_Yeah, I'm in. Can you ask the others, too? _

He almost spilled the coffee all over his mother, apologized and quickly formed a reply.

_Great! Yeah, I will. Are you okay with me picking you up at eight? _

_Sure. See you at eight. _

_Yeah. Have fun and goodbye, Kate. _

This wasn't normal breathing and she felt like her heart was thumping so hard, it seemed as though it's going to jump out of her chest. A single heart, written in the text message he sent her made her stomach explode with butterflies and she had to stiffle a giggle. Katherine Beckett did _not _giggle. She looked at the clock and saw it was 1PM already. Only 7 hours left until she sees him again and she could barely wait.

**The next chapter is going to include the gang going out and that's about it, but be looking forward to it, though, 'cause it's gonna be pretty hot ;) **

**But not too much HAH:D**

**And thanks to all those who favorited, alerted and reviewed High School Love.**

_**If anyone has any ideas about what could happen in the story, let me know and I'll maybe include them in. It would be great to see what you guys have on your minds. (:**_


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm so, so, so terribly sorry for the delay but I had writer's block for days. I really don't know why, but yeah, it happens. **

**Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favorites, it means a lot. **

**I hope you enjoy the chapter. (:**

**CHAPTER 6: WHAT A NIGHT FOR A DANCE, YOU KNOW I'M A DANCING MACHINE**

She was giddy. There was no other word for it. She could hardly wait for him to come pick her up, to see him again. her stomach flipped over and she felt dizzy.

She walked over to the bed and sat down. There was this strange feeling in her guts and she felt like she was losing consciuosness and her head hurt just a little because she couldn't stop thinking about him.

She asked her parents if she could go immediately after she and Rick stopped texting. They said that she can, but she has to be home by midnight.

She sighed and opened her closet, looking for the perfect outfit for today.

This was ridiculous. He shouldn't be nervous about a date. He's gone out with dozen of girls and he was _never_ nervous about it. But this was Kate. This was her, the girl who occupied his thoughts 90 % of the time and he was shocked how fast he fell for her. He wondered one million times over these past three days if she made every guy she went out with or not, feel like this. He was sure he's never going to be able to date another girl again and though he knew that was kind of crazy because he has only just turned 17 in the summer, he _knew _that she was the one.

He smiled and shook his head. He was overanalyzing his feelings too much. He should just go with the flow and see where it takes him. He trusted his judgment as much as he trusted the tides.

Rick opened his closet and tried to decide what to wear tonight. He groaned and rather just pulled out his running shorts and a clean t-shirt to go for a run.

The sun was shining brightly and the sound of the waves was as comforting as two days before. It still felt like the best place in the world to be right then and he was grateful that he was back home, right where he belongs.

He ran for an hour and when he got back home, he found Madison waiting for him outside the apartment.

He frowned and asked her, panting, 'What are you doing here?' She came closer and said, 'I just wanted to invite you to my party tonight. Will you come?' She tried to put a hand on his chest, but he stepped back.

'You should go.' Madison rolled her eyes and pushed him against the wall, then tried to kiss him, but he turned his head just in time. She frowned and walked away, calling over her shoulder, 'See you tonight, Ricky.' He exhaled slowly and opened the door to walk into the apartment.

She's been fiddling with her fingers for almost half an hour and her mother was beginning to wonder why would her little girl be so nervous.

'Katie, is everything okay?'

Kate looked up at her mom and smiled.

'Um, yeah, it's just Rick and… I don't know.' Johanna laughed and sat down next to her on the couch.

'You know, I've told you the story about how me and your father started going out lots of times, but I never really told you how scared I was to just dive in with him.' Kate looked at her mother with curious eyes, tried to think of a reason why Johanna Beckett would be afraid of anything.

'You guys were 18 when you met, right?'

'Exactly. I had just started going to college and I was still afraid of falling in love, because most of the time when you did, you only got your heart broken. After your father and I collided at the ice rink, he was a perfect gentleman and when he asked me out, I got scared that he won't like who I am. After 3 months of dating him, I realized that I was never really afraid to love, but that I was afraid of being loved.' Kate tilted her head to the side and folded her legs on the couch cushion.

'You see, Jim was the kind of guy who fell in love so hard that it took him months to get over that girl. And he loved _me_ from the very beginning. When he first told me that he's in love with me, I thought I was going to faint. I was so happy, Katie. And that's what I was afraid of. That someone could make me happy and I could make them happy, because we never knew when something could tear us apart and we'd both be broken.' Johanna stopped and took a deep breath, then smiled tenderly at her daughter, put her arm around her shoulders.

'There's nothing wrong with being afraid, Kate. It only means that your feelings are strong, it means that you're human and as vulnerable as everyone else. Believe me when I say that there's not even one person in this world that is not afraid of anything. And if you really like Rick and if he makes you happy, then you should just dive in with him as soon as you feel like you're ready.'

Kate nodded and hugged her mom, grateful that she could always count on her.

They broke apart when the doorbell rang. Kate exhaled slowly and stood up with Johanna.

'How do I look?' Her mom grinned and said, 'Fantastic.' Kate smiled and grabbed her purse from the coffee table, then walked to the door.

He barely made it to her place, he was that nervous. He had to force himself to knock and he felt his stomach doing flips, his whole body full of butterflies when he just thought about her. He heard the lock turn and he almost passed out when he saw her. It wasn't like she didn't dress good. Actually, she dressed amazing, but right now, standing in front of him dressed in tight black vintage pants and a blue shirt with white patterns, a beautiful necklace hanging around her neck, her soft brown curls cascading down her shoulders and the awesome black high heels making her taller, she was even more gorgeous than usual, especially when she was smiling at him like that. Even if she looked sexy as hell right now, that look still couldn't compare with the one he saw on the cam, though.

'Um… I… You… Wow.' She laughed and he saw a bright shade of pink on her cheeks. He leaned in and kissed one of those, then pulled back and dragged his eyes all over her once again.

'You're beautiful.' The blush on her cheeks spread even wider, her skin now red and her lips smiling.

'Yes, she definitely is.' They both looked at Johanna standing next to Kate and Rick grinned.

'Good evening, Miss Beckett.'

'Ah Rick, I told you, it's Johanna, please.' His grin got bigger and he apologized, 'Sorry, Johanna.' Kate's mom smiled and replied, 'Good evening to you too, Rick. I hope you'll get her home until midnight?' He nodded and assured her, 'Of course, don't worry.' Johanna nodded back.

'Have fun, then,' she said and kissed her daughter's cheek.

Kate closed the doors after her and looked at Rick expectantly. He grinned, she looped her arm through his and they walked off to the curb where Javi's car was waiting for them. Rick turned to her and told her, 'Yeah, um… Javi kinda offered to give us all a ride, so is it okay or?'

'It's great. Don't worry.' He nodded and they got in the car. The gang was sitting exactly like they were when they rode like this the first time, so Kate and Rick's bodies were brushing throughout the ride, their eyes sneaking glances at each other.

The bar looked brand new from the outside and they found their spot in the line, waiting for their turn.

When it was, though, the guard only wanted to let the girls in, but Javi stepped in front of him and showed him his driver's license, the guard immediately recognizing Javi's last name and he let them all in.

'You know, Javi, I was never more glad that your father is well known in Berkeley,' Kevin teased and Javi just shot him a look as they sat down at the free table.

There was a group of teenagers dancing and Rick recognized them as their schoolmates. Thank God that Madison had that party of hers tonight, because he was sure that she'd somehow end up in here otherwise. He sighed with relieve and Kate asked him, curiously, 'What's up?' He shrugged and told her about what happened in the hallway.

'I thought she and Josh were a thing now.' He shrugged again and had to lean in closer, because the music got louder.

'It doesn't matter, Kate. Let's just forget about them for now?' She smiled and nodded, then took a sip of her bottled water. He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes, stood up and held out a hand to him. He looked around and saw that their friends were already on the dance floor and he had to laugh. He took her hand and pulled her back into him when she tried to lead him to the dance floor.

'I thought the guy was supposed to do that.' She chuckled and said, 'By all means, then,' gestured for him to lead the way. He did and as soon as they got to the dance floor, she released his hand to run hers through her hair, dancing already and although he really, really enjoyed the view, he had a better idea, so he grabbed her hip with one hand and one of her hands with the other, pulled her closer to him. They swayed lightly , staring at each other and she looked surprised.

When he started to dance slowly with her instead of the opposite, she was shocked. She really had no idea that he'd be all cuddly tonight, but she kinda liked it. It made him vulnerable and she thought back to what her mother told her. He held her like she was such a fragile thing, so important that he couldn't bear to lose it and she shivered with the thought. Okay, maybe it wasn't just because of that, but because of the way his fingers traced her spine, too.

He didn't care that they looked a little ridiculous, dancing so slowly on a very loud song and among other dancers who were throwing their bodies all over the place, jumping up and down, to the left, to the right, but it all seemed blurry to him. The only thing he was so aware of was the girl in his arms who was looking at him with a gentle smile on her face.

He chuckled and pulled her even closer and she came willingly, buried her head in his neck as he held their joined hands close to his heart.

The song was inappropriate for their dance, but they didn't care. They were together and they were ignoring the curious glances of their friends and their schoolmates, dancing, swaying softly.

The music suddenly changed and the DJ said, 'This one is for the couple in the back who seem to be able only to dance slowly, so enjoy, guys.'

Rick and Kate both blushed, but laughed and then both simultaniously screamed, 'I love this song!' as Bon Jovi's Bed of Roses started playing.

They continued dancing like that, their eyes locked and somewhere in the middle of the song their foreheads touched, their eyes closed, the electric feeling of the song coursing through their bodies, lighting them, their hearts beating in the same rhythm, following the same feelings.

When the song ended, they looked up and found their lips way to close for a friend zone, but they weren't acutally friends, something more although they didn't know what just yet.

'Kate.' She hummed and closed her eyes, basking in his voice and the feeling of being in his arms.

'Ricky! I knew I'd find you here!' Their heads turned around to see Madison strolling towards them in a mini skirt and a mini top, actually practically every piece of her clothing was mini-sized. Kate fought the urge to laugh at her and rather turned away to look at Lanie and Javier whispering something to each other back at the table.

'I thought we agreed you'd come to my party.' Rick rolled his eyes and squeezed Kate's waist, then told Madison, 'I didn't say that I'd come. I said that you better leave, nothing about your party.' Madison licked her lips and came closer, glanced down at Rick's arms wrapped around Kate.

'What's all this?' Kate huffed and answered her question, 'It's what you see.' Madison frowned and said, 'Nobody was talking to you.'

'Yeah well nobody was talking to you either,' replied Kate and then pulled Rick down to kiss his cheek, so close to the corner of his mouth and then whispered in his ear, 'Let's get out of here.' She felt him nod and he unwrapped himself from around her to knot his fingers through hers.

'Bye, Madison. Have fun,' was the last thing he said before he pulled Kate with him to grab her purse and then to walk through the exit, stepping onto the pavement.

The sun was setting, casting an orange tint of light to the Berkeley streets, shining on the two teenagers laughing while running down to the nearby diner. When they entered, they finally calmed down and they sat down in the booth at the back. They ordered some food – french fries – and chocolate milkshakes, all the while talking about everything and anything.

'My grandpa, he had this way of always knowing what I was gonna do. He lived in Arizona, so I couldn't see him that much, but everytime that I did, it felt like we've known each other for decades. There was this one time when I was 7 and we went to visit him in Arizona and I was left alone in his house because they went to watch a show or something like that. So I was alone and bored and I found a small boat in his garage and I decided to flood the whole garage and then play like I'm riding on the river.'

'You didn't!' She gasped and they both laughed.

'I actually seriously almost did.'

'Almost?'

'Yeah, somehow, my grandpa rode back home because he was sure that I was gonna do something stupid. He found me in the garage when I was holding the water pipe with 1 feet of water already in the garage.'

'Oh my God, what did he do?' she laughed and he shrugged, told her, 'I know that he wasn't terribly angry and that we went with the boat on a real river the next day, so everything was cool.'

'I suppose you were I troublemaker when you were young then, weren't you?' He grinned and nodded, stuffing some of the fries in his mouth.

'Yeah, I actually still am, I just hide it better.' He winked and she laughed, picking up a fry, then dunked it in his milkshake and eating it with a big smile on her face as he gasped in mock outrage.

'You dare to pollute _my _milkshake?' When she just grinned at him, he shook his head, feigning offence. He smirked though and said, 'This crime will be punished!' as he grabbed her milkshake, drinking it until there was nothing left.

'Ha! I drank all of your magic liquid, now what are you going to do?' She rolled her eyes and grabbed his milkshake, stood up and ran through the door. His eyes widened and he put a couple of bucks down on the table, then ran after her.

He caught her halfway down the street and spun her around while laughing.

'You were seriously trying to escape from me?' She turned her head around a bit to look over her shoulder at him.

'Maybe.' She grinned and he released her, took her hand, intertwined their fingers, the gesture now feeling completely natural, like they've been doing this for years.

They weren't aware of an old couple standing across the street and looking at them with smiles on their faces.

'They remind me of us, Joe.'

'Yes, Vera, they remind me of us, too.'

They walked slowly and in silence over to the docks, couldn't wipe off silly grins from their faces. She shivered after a minute and he offered her his jacket, which she gladly accepted.

'Thanks.' He helped her get it on and then he zipped it, took her hand again as they walked through the docks.

'Here,' he led her to a pier, then they sat down on the edge, their twined hands resting on the place where their thighs melted together.

'Mmm, I like it here. It's nice.' He smiled at her and nodded. 'Yeah, it is. It's kinda quiet, too.' She chuckled and leaned her head on his shoulder, 'Yeah, that's something that doesn't happen a lot in Berkeley.' He sighed in happiness, so amazingly content right now that he's never been in his whole life.

He thought about the last day of summer, just before school started and found himself thinking that he could never go back to the way things were before he met her. She gave his life a greater meaning, in a way that he didn't know was possible. And she was extraordinary, so beautiful that he couldn't even think of a better word to describe her, even if his vocabulary was pretty good.

'I can hear you thinking, you know.' He opened his eyes, didn't realize that he closed them in the first place, and hummed.

'That's impossible and you know it.' She chuckled and answered him, 'I've done the impossible and that makes me mighty.' He couldn't help but laugh and look down at her head, found her staring up at him.

'You're extraordinary.' Her breath caught in her throat and she sighed a silent thank you. He kissed her forehead and let himself inhale her scent, giving in to the butterflies in his stomach, letting them fly around as much as they want. He wrapped his arm around her, their fingers still tangled together, giving her warmth and love and everything, _every single thing_ that she'd ever want.

They stayed like that for quite some time, seconds, minutes, hours, it didn't matter, because they were relaxed and so happy that it terrified, but at the same time excited them, made their hearts swell with the affection.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and found her fast asleep on his shoulder with a little smile on her face. He cupped her cheek and whispered in her ear, 'Wake up, sleeping beauty.' He felt her stir and she opened her eyes slowly, smiled at him, pressed her lips to his chin. He froze, stopped breathing, waited for her to realize what she did, to pull away and run, but it never came. She just sighed and rested her head on his shoulder one more time.

'Um, Kate.'

'Yeah.' He closed his eyes at the vulnerability in her voice when she woke up, realized that she is as much a human being as everyone else, even if at times it felt like she's some magic princess who has magical powers and can make every guy fall in love with her. Well, it worked on him, so…

'It's quarter to eleven. Wanna go home?' She moaned and said, 'Yeah, sure.' He carefully stood up and pulled her with him, keeping his arm wrapped around her to warm her up.

'I'll call Javi, see where he is, okay?' She nodded and wrapped both her arms around his waist, hugging him and it felt so good that he thought he wasn't going to make it. But he put one arm around her shoulders, rubbing up and down her upper arm, dialing Javi's number.

'Hey man, you still in the club? … Yeah, that'd be great, thanks. Um, we're on corner of Vine Ave and California Street. Sure, we'll wait here.' He hung up and put his iPhone in the back pocket of his black jeans.

He wrapped another arm around Kate and felt her smile in his neck.

'What did Javi say?' He smiled in her hair and told her, 'He'll be here in 5 minutes, maybe 10.'

'Mmm, 'kay.' There was a comfortable silence for a minute and then Kate inhaled deeply.

'You smell really, really good.' He laughed.

'What?'

'Like rainbow.' He laughed harder.

'What? Kate, you're not making any sense when you're half asleep, you know that?' She nodded and inhaled again.

'Your color is blue. Like the sea. You make me feel like I'm on the sea. But I'm not lost, because I know I'd always find a way back to you. But you also shine all the other colors, every one meaning something good and soft and bright, but blue is definitely the one that shines the most.' He smiled and chuckled in her ear.

'But you also say really nice things, I have to admit that.' She giggled and pulled back to look at him.

'And you're kinda ruggedly handsome.' He laughed again and heard her laugh too.

'Kate, I think I might like you the most when it's 11 PM and you're so sleepy that you have no control over your words.' She laughed again and pressed her forehead in his neck again.

'You haven't seen anything yet.' He chuckled.

'I bet.' She sighed and stepped away from him, too far away and he wanted to pull her back in when she said, 'Javi's here.' He nodded and took her hand.

On the ride home, the rest of the gang told them what was happened while they were gone and Rick had to tell them where they were. Back in the club, at the same time as Rick and Kate were in the diner, Josh and Madison apparently kissed again and disappeared somewhere unknown.

As they were driving home, Kate used Rick's shoulder to lean her head on again and he just kissed the top of her head, squeezed her hand that was still resting in his.

She was drifting off again, almost fell asleep when they got to her house. Rick walked her to the door and hugged her. He stepped back and then flicked his eyes to her mouth, leaned in, but was stopped when the front door opened and Kate's father showed with a smile on his face, clearly satisfied because he interrupted their moment. Kate rolled her eyes and crossed her arms on her chest.

'Thank you for bringing her home, Rick. You're actually still quite early.' It was 11.28 PM, it wasn't really that early. Okay, maybe it was, but she was tired and he didn't want for her to fall asleep on the porch, so he nodded and shook Jim's hand.

'Sure. See you, Kate.' Kate smiled and before following her dad inside sent Rick an air kiss, then winked and grinned as he stood speechless next to the car.

The night was definitely a success, even if all didn't go as planned, it was actually a lot better. They laughed and talked and hugged and almost kissed, so it was amazing and he was content and happy and so overwhelmed that even when he fell asleep and found his way to the dreams, he couldn't stop himself from dreaming about her. About her and him. Together.

**Can I just say that I hate Sophia? I mean seriously. And Kate's such a beautiful human being, the opposite of Sophia. **

**Just had to get this out, lol. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi! I apologize for the delay, because I've really wanted to post this sooner, but the internet was giving me a hard time. **

**+ School's back, holidays are over, so that means a lot of exams, which means a lot of grades to get and they _have _to be good, and all this means I won't be able to write much. If we're lucky, I'll post a chapter each week.  
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**So this chapter is fictional Sunday. I hope you like it, because I really tried to do this right.  
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**CHAPTER 7: IT RAINED SO HARD IT FELT LIKE SNOW**

'Katie, wake up.' Someone shook her shoulders and she slowly opened her eyes to see her father standing next to her bed.

'Mornin', dad.' Jim smiled and nodded.

'Good morning. It's 10 AM, honey.'

'So?' Her father shook his head and opened the blinds. The sun was already up high on the sky and it made Kate sigh.

'I told you yesterday that me and your mom are going to go to the spa today. You sure you don't want to come with?'

'Mmm, no. I think I'll just stay home, hang out with the girls.' By girls she meant Lanie and Jenny, of course. Who else would she be hanging out with?

'Okay, then. We already have everything packed and we're gonna go now. Want to come and say goodbye before we go?' Kate sat up in bed and nodded. No matter how many times she thought that her parents are stupid, she really loved them.

'Yeah, I'll come in a second.' Jim smiled and went downstairs.

She stood up and changed from her pajamas in a blue shirt and light-blue jeans shorts. She quickly combed her hair, pulled it back in a messy bun, went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on her face. She wiped the drops of her face and hurried downstairs.

When she walked in the living room, she saw her parents kissing.

'Seriously, guys?' They broke apart and grinned at her as she rolled her eyes and opened the fridge to pull out a bottle of milk.

'Kate, there's apparently a storm coming to Berkeley, it'll be here in the afternoon. So be home until 3 PM and then stay in, okay? We'll be home somewhere around midnight.' Kate took a sip of milk and nodded, putting the bottle down on the counter and pushing her parents through the front door, hugging them in process.

'Go, have fun.'

'You too sweetie, we love you.' Kate rolled her eyes once again and waved.

'Yeah, love you too.' They rode off and she went back inside to make herself a sandwich.

After finishing her breakfast, she went back into her room and saw that Lanie was calling her. She answered the phone and plopped down on her bed.

'Hey, Lanie.'

'Hey, girl. I called you three times, why didn't you answer?'

'I was sleeping until 15 minutes ago when my dad woke me. He and mom are going to the spa.'

'Ooooh, so that means you're home alone?'

'Yeah.'

'Awesome! Listen, I'm spending the day with Javi, but you're welcome to join us.'

'Oh no, thanks. I think I'm just gonna go run for a while and then call Jenny to see if she wants to hang out.'

'Um… Yeah, about that… Jenny called earlier, told me that she and Kev are going to his parents' cabin up in the woods. They're not coming back until early tomorrow.' Kate sighed and closed her eyes. Well, there goes her plan of hanging out today.

'But, Kate… You could always call Rick and ask him if _he_ wants to.' She opened her eyes and bit her lip.

'I don't know, Lanie. He probably has plans, it's not like he doesn't have any friends besides us.'

'Oh my God Kate, you're making terrible excuses, just call him and ask him if he's up for a drink or something.' Kate suddenly remembered their bet and smirked.

'Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks Lanie, have fun with Javi and say hello to him.'

'Will do and you too, girl.'

They hung up and just as Kate found Rick's number to call him, her phone rang. It was Rick. Damn, he really _could _read her mind.

'Yes?'

'Hi, Kate, it's Rick.' She felt butterflies in her stomach as soon as she heard his voice.

'Hi.'

'How are you?'

'I'm fine, you?'

'Me too. Did you get any sleep?' She laughed.

'Mmm, yeah. I woke up 20 minutes ago.' He laughed too.

'Well, that's quite a lot of sleep.' She nodded and then realized he couldn't see her.

'Yeah.'

'Listen, I've been thinking about that bet. You remember?' She laughed again. This was getting seriously creepy. The way he knew what she was thinking.

'I was thinking about that too, actually. Can you read minds or something?' He chuckled.

'Not yet. Anyway, would you want go out with me today? I know this amazing little café down at the docks that I forgot to mention to you yesterday when we were there.'

'Um… Of course, sure, yeah.'

'So, when do you have time?' She bit her lip.

'All day, all night.'

'You have no other plans?' She rolled her eyes and told him the story with Lanie and Jenny.

'Oh, that's a shame. Well, not really, now I get to have you all to myself.' He let out an evil laugh and she chuckled at his childishness.

'Looking forward to it?' She heard him take a deep breath.

'You've no idea.' She swallowed and felt the blush on her cheeks.

'I gotta go, mom's having some problems with her clothes here.' She laughed.

'Yeah, sure, go help her.'

'But I'll see you at noon?'

'Yeah, at noon.'

''Kay, see you. Bye, Kate.'

'Bye, Rick.' She threw her phone on her nightstand and touched her forehead with her hands.

She was going out with him. _Again. _She chuckled at herself and stood up, made her bed, then went to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

* * *

><p>She heard the doorbell rang and she quickly grabbed her little brown purse, left the couch cushions to go open the door. He was standing there dressed in black shorts and a white t-shirt with his hair a little disheveled, probably from the helmet he was holding in one arm. He grinned at her and stepped closer to hug her. As they pulled apart she curiously eyed the black helmet.<p>

'You ride a motorbike?' He nodded and ran a hand through his hair, started walking with her to the curb.

'Yeah, uncle Richard learned me how to. Is it okay with you?' She nodded, smiled and he grinned back in response.

'I know that Motorcycle-Boy, I mean Josh, rides a motorbike, but trust me, this beauty here is something else.' He pointed at the black and blue motorbike parked in front of her house and told her, 'Her name is Kate.' She snapped her eyes up to look at him, mouth opened.

'Excuse me?' He laughed and pulled out a helmet from under the seat, handed it to her.

'Just kidding. She doesn't have a name, actually. You can choose it for her if you'd like, though.' He winked and she smirked.

'I like Kate.' His eyes widened and he grinned.

'Okay then. Here, so you won't be cold.' He handed her a blue cardigan with white stripes and zipped it for her.

They put on their helmets and Rick sat on the motorbike, looking at Kate. She smiled, even though he couldn't see her through the shade on her helmet and she sat behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist. Her chest pressed into his back, her hands rested on his abdomen and as he drove off, she felt a rush of adrenaline and excitement travel through her body.

They rode down to the docks and he parked the motorbike there, pulled his helmet off and looked back at her, just as she got rid of her own.

'So, did you like it?' She smiled, combed her hair with her fingers and nodded.

'It wasn't bad.' He stepped off the motorbike and stood next to it, helped Kate get off, too.

'Wasn't bad?' She handed him her helmet and he put it under the seat, then grabbed her hand, twined their fingers together as they started walking down the shore.

'No, it was awesome, actually. Don't worry, you're a pretty good driver.' He feigned shock and said, '_Just _a pretty good driver?' She stopped walking and looked him up and down, slowly dragging her eyes up his body, saw him swallow really hard.

'Well, amazingly good driver, then.' He tugged on her hand and started walking again, laughing.

'So, how's that café of yours called?' He looked at her and smiled.

'It doesn't have an official name. But it's been here since 1960.'

'Seriously?'

'Yeah, the owner is Italian and his father first started with bussiness here,' he said and then told her Pietro's story.

'That's amazing,' she said after he finished the story and he nodded at her.

'Yeah, pretty much. I met Pietro when I was 6. I got lost and he led me into his café, gave me a cup of tea and then drove me home. My mom was really grateful and we visited him and his family once a year. When I got older and my mom got busier, I started to go there once a week. I spent some of the best moments of my life in that little café.' He looked at her as she squeezed his hand.

'That's really sweet.' He grinned, then looked up and his whole face lit up.

'We're here.' She looked in the way where his finger was pointing and they crossed the street, opened the door and walked in. She gasped and looked around.

Light-brown walls were covered with brown stains, like someone spilled coffee over them, wooden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, round oak tables and chairs giving the impression that everything in here is really old.

'It's beautiful.'

'Yeah, it is. But it can't compare to you.' She looked away from the ceiling to look at him. His smile was so tender, his eyes so loving, that she thought she was gonna fall apart with the energy that he gave her with his intense gaze.

'Thank you.' He brushed his knuckles over her cheek as he saw her blush and grinned.

'Ricky!' Their heads turned around to look at the little girl running over to them, her red hair waving behind her. Rick picked her up and spinned her around, laughing.

'Alexis, sweetie. How are you?' He put her down and she said, 'I'm fine, thanks. And you?' Kate and Rick laughed and he replied while looking at Kate, 'I'm great.' Alexis turned around and extended her hand to Kate. She shook the little girl's hand and grinned.

'You're Kate, right?' Kate opened her mouth in surprise and looked up at Rick who was blushing.

'Yes, I am.'

'Ricky told us a lot of good things about you.' Kate laughed as Rick rolled his eyes and picked Alexis up. Kate crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at him.

'Did he now?' Alexis nodded eagerly and said, 'He likes you a lot.' Kate's eyes widened and she bit her lip, saw Rick open and close his mouth twice, in the end keeping it closed and smiling sheepishly at her.

'He does?' Alexis nodded again, serious as she asked the next question, 'Yeah. Do you like him too?' Kate looked back at Rick and tilted her head to the side, let out a little chuckle.

'Yes, I do.' Rick's eyes lit up and Alexis wriggled out of his hold to jump in Kate's arms. Kate laughed and ran a hand through Alexis's hair.

'I'm Alexis,' the girl said as she pulled her head back to grin at the teenager.

'Nice to meet you, Alexis.' The red-headed girl replied, 'You too.' Kate smiled and looked at Rick who was watching them happily and she couldn't help but smile a little wider.

'You have really pretty hair.' Kate chuckled as Alexis played with her curls, her little palms brushing the soft waves.

'Thanks. So do you.' Alexis's cheeks turned pink and she grinned at her.

'Thank you.'

Alexis jumped out of Kate's arms and grabbed her hand with one of hers, the other one reaching to hold Rick's.

'Come on, grandpa will be so excited to see you!'

She led them down to the family part of the house where Rick was just three days ago.

It was lunch time and the whole family was seated in the dining room.

'Grandpa, grandpa, look who's here!' Pietro looked up from his plate and stood up as soon as he saw Rick and Kate.

'Rick! What a pleasant surprise!' The man hugged him and asked, 'How are you?'

'I'm fine, Pietro.' Pietro nodded and pulled back, looked at Kate, shook her hand.

'You must be Kate.' She laughed and said, 'I wonder how much Rick has told you about me that you recognized me immediately.'

Pietro grinned and said, 'He's told us a lot of good things about you and if my first opinion is correct, then I agree with him.' She smiled at the old man.

'My name's Pietro.'

'Nice to meet you, sir.'

'Oh, no sir here, just me. You can call me Pietro.' He winked at her and she laughed as she nodded. He released her hand and his wife took his place, introducing herself to Kate. After her, Kate met Marco, Dante, Ashley, Victoria, Laura and Jacques, even talked a bit in French with him.

She just stopped talking with Jacques as a little older boy came to shook her hand.

'Hi, I'm Paolo. Rick's been telling me this whole time what you look like, but even he and his words didn't do you justice.' She laughed and said, 'Thanks.' She noticed that she didn't blush when Paolo complimented her, but everytime Rick told her that she's beautiful she felt like a freaking potato. She flicked her eyes to look at Rick who was laughing with Marco and Dante and she smiled.

'Bro, I want to meet her too, you know.' Another guy stopped in front of her to push his brother away and shake her hand.

'Hi, I'm Bernardo.'

'I'm Kate.' Bernardo grinned and dropped her hand.

'So, I've heard you've been going out with Rick?' Kate bit her lip and nodded.

'Don't worry, he's a good guy.' She smiled and looked at Rick who was looking at her. He winked and she let out a laugh.

'Yeah, I know.' Bernardo stepped back to allow Luca and Elena to meet her. Kate talked with them for a while, until a pretty girl with light-brown hair came to her and extended her hand for her to shake.

'I'm Lena.' Kate smiled and noticed that the girl looks a little bit like her.

'I'm Kate.'

'It's very nice to finally meet you, I must say. Rick has been telling us such great things about you. I believe that you have clearly fascinated him.' Kate felt the the blush on her cheeks and she smiled.

'Um… Thanks?' Lena laughed and looped her arm through hers.

'Come on, I gotta scold Rick for not bringing you here earlier.' They walked over to Rick and he turned to look at them, grinned. Lena punched him in the arm.

'Ow! Seriously?'

'How come you didn't show her to us before? She's great and you were keeping her from us,' Lena pouted and Rick laughed, hugged her when she let go of Kate's arm. He pulled back and took Kate's hand, knotted his fingers through hers, making her blush again. Lena watched this with amusement and raised an eyebrow when Rick finally looked away from Kate.

'I only did that because I knew you'd all want to have her for yourself and she's mine, so forget about it.'

She felt her blush deepen at his words, her breath caught in her chest, her fingers twitching in his. Did he just _claim_ her?

'Oh, come on. You can't do that.' They all laughed and soon the whole Di Lenardo family plus Rick and Kate were seated at the table, eating lunch and talking, laughing, having a good time.

When it was 2 PM, Rick and Kate decided to go and they said goodbye to everyone, promised they would come back soon. As soon as they got out of the cafe, Rick grabbed Kate's hand again, smiled at her, kissed her temple. She smiled back and then looked up at the sky as they heard thunder somewhere high in the clouds. Kate looked back at Rick as a lightning ripped the sky.

'Yeah, um… My dad said I should be home by 3 PM, 'cause the storm's coming.'

'I heard about the storm, but I thought it was gonna come later.' Kate shrugged and felt a raindrop hit her nose. He laughed and wiped it off with the sleeve of his jacket.

'Come on, I'll drive you home before it gets worse.' She nodded and they quickly put the helmets on and sat on the motorbike. He drove slower than before, careful because he didn't want to slip and crash.

When they finally arrived to Kate's house the weather outside was a real downpour and the lightning wouldn't stop tearing up the whole sky, the thunder so loud that it sounded like a war was raging on the streets. Rick parked the motorbike on the curb and ran after Kate to the porch. They took their helmets off and she unlocked the door.

'Come in.'

'No, I'm just gonna go home. It's not that bad anyway.' Another lightning showed up in the sky and it rumbled just a second after.

'Rick, you can't go home in this weather. Just stay at my place until the storm ends.'

'Are you sure?' She nodded and started pulling him in with her.

'Your parents won't mind?'

'They're at the spa until midnight so I don't even care. And if they were home, they'd probably force you to stay here, so don't worry.' He nodded and closed the door behind him, then remembered.

'Oh, wait. I have some dry clothes under the seat. I have to go get them.' Before she could stop him, he ran out and came back 5 seconds later with a pile of clothes in his hands. She smiled and took them out of his hands, placed them on the kitchen table, grabbing the helmets and placing them in the bathtub. She came back a few seconds later and found Rick taking off his soaked t-shirt with his back turned to her. She bit her lip and had to remind herself how to breathe.

'Hey Kate, where can I put this?' He turned around and saw her watching him. He grinned and walked to her, his muscles moving, drops of water resting on his chest.

'You okay?' She looked up in his eyes and nodded, felt the hotness on her cheeks.

'Yeah, I'm great.' He laughed and held out his wet t-shirt.

'Can I put this in the bathroom?' She nodded and led him he emerged he had blue shorts and a clean white t-shirt on and she bit her lip again, remembered how he looked without the latter.

She heard him laugh again and she walked in her room, heard his footsteps behind her. She went to the window and closed the blinds, turned her desk lamp on. She saw him staring at her, standing by the door.

'You can come in, you know.' He grinned and walked in, looked around, stopped in front of her.

'So, this is your room, huh?' She nodded.

'I like it.'

Her walls were painted blue, brown closets standing in the corner of the room and a brown desk in the other corner. Her mahogany bed was the biggest piece of furniture in the room and his eyes lingered there a bit before he looked at her again.

'So, what do you usually do when there's a storm outside?' She shrugged and sat down on the bed, looking up at him.

'Don't know. You?'

'Me neither.' They both laughed.

'So how'd you like the Di Lenardo family?' Kate exhaled and scrunched her brows.

'They're… Something.' He laughed and sat down on the bed, right next to her.

'I mean, they're really nice and funny, but the way Paolo and Bernardo were looking at me was kind of weird.'

'Well, you're hot and really pretty and did I mention hot?' She laughed, her cheeks red.

'And you have this amazing personality and your heart is just… You're perfect, so I'm not surprised.' She took his hand and smiled at him.

'Thanks.'

'No problem. I had to make it pretty clear that they can't flirt with you, though. Even if that's gonna be a little tough, they know that you're mine.' He let out an evil laugh, like earlier today and she had to laugh, slap his chest with her hand, just to hold it there for a little while longer, just to feel the play of muscles under her touch.

'What? I'm only telling the truth. You're mine, I'm yours, how does that sound?' She laughed and shook her head, bit her lip.

'You're being childish now.'

'I am not!' She dropped her hand from his chest and stood up, rolling her eyes in process.

She walked to the stereo and asked him, 'What kind of music would you like to listen to?' He contemplated his answer for a moment, then said, 'What do you got?'

'Come here and look for yourself.' He stood up and walked over to stand behind her, his chest touching her back, feeling her shiver. He looked down at her iPod over her shoulder and immediately saw just what he was looking for. He pressed the album and picked a song, grinned and stepped back. Kate turned around as the song started to play.

'Yellow? So you're a Coldplay fan now?' He shrugged and smiled even wider.

'Guilty as charged.' She laughed, but stopped and listened when he started to sing.

'_Look at the stars, look how they shine for you and everything you do, yeah they were all yellow. I came along, I wrote a song for you and all the things you do and it was called yellow. So then I took my turn, oh what a thing to have done and it was all yellow._' He pulled her in his arms, swaying softly, and started singing again while looking at her.

'_Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones turn into something beautiful. You know, you know I love you so, you know I love you so._' She gasped, her eyes widened and then closed as his breath came closer to her face.

'_I swam across, I jumped across for you, oh what a thing to do, 'cause you were all yellow. I drew a line, I drew a line for you, oh what a thing to do, and it was all yellow. Your skin, oh yeah your skin and bones turn into something beautiful. And you know, for you I'd bleed myself dry, for you I'd bleed myself dry._'

He leaned his forehead on hers, heard her sigh as he brought one hand to curl at her neck. She put both her arms around his neck and one of them teased the hair on the base of his neck.

'_It's true. Look how they shine for you, look how they shine for you, look how they shine for, look how they shine for you, look how they shine for you, look how they shine. Look at the stars, look how they shine for you and all the things that you do._'

As he sang the last verse their eyes locked and when the song ended their eyes closed, their faces came closer.

Their lips locked and Kate let out a sigh, so happy that it finally happened. She felt her stomach flip as she realized that they have just _kissed_. He pulled back slightly, just enough to see her eyes, but was rewarded with a more beautiful sight. She had her eyes closed, a little smile on her face as she slowly opened her eyelids.

'God, you're so beautiful.' She closed her eyes again, couldn't help herself, pulled him closer, touched her lips to his one more time. They kissed slowly, just slight presses of his lips to hers, their hands stroking, caressing, fireworks behind their closed eyes, butterflies in their bellies.

They pulled apart and she blushed as he gave her a chaste kiss on her rosy lips.

'Wow…' She nodded, agreeing with him, bit her lip.

'Yeah.' She realized that the next song was already playing on the iPod. Having it on shuffle it started to play Arizona by Kings of Leon. It seemed like he figured it out too because his eyes widened as he opened his mouth.

'You said you didn't know Kings of Leon!' She laughed and massaged his scalp with her fingers.

'Mmm, I may have downloaded all their albums on my iPod after you mentioned it.' He gaped at her and she kissed his chin, pulled back but was stopped when he used one of his hands that was in her hair to pull her closer.

He kissed her again, the rhythm of their lips now more familiar to them as they pressed even closer. His tongue touched her lips and she moaned, let him in. The kiss deepened and she was relying on him to hold her tight, because she was sure that she wasn't able to stand on her own two legs.

They pulled apart for air, their breathing ragged.

'Just… Wow… I… Yeah…' She laughed at his speechlessness and pulled away from him, dropping her hands to her sides as his remained on her jaw, pulling her back in, his lips brushing hers.

'Where are you going?' She chuckled and whispered, 'To the couch.'

'Don't.' He kissed her again and when she pulled back, she said, 'Come with me,' then took his hand, led him to the living room and the couch. She sat down and turned the TV on with the remote as he settled himself on the couch too. She leaned back against his chest when he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, lifted her head to kiss his neck softly.

He chuckled and she felt it more than heard it, shivered with the realization that they kissed and are now cuddling on her living room couch.

'You cold?' She shook her head and scratched her nails over his chest, fisting the fabric of his t-shirt between her fingers, warming him up.

'No, I still have your cardigan on, remember?' He pulled away a bit to look at her and sighed.

'You know, it looks way better on you than on me.'

'Really?'

'Yeah, I think I'm going to have to force you to wear my clothes for the rest of your life because you look so damn good in them.' She laughed and rubbed her hand over his heart.

'I wouldn't mind.'

'Of course you wouldn't. They smell like me and you said that I smell, and I quote 'really, really good'.' She laughed again and closed her eyes, inhaled his scent once again.

'Yeah, like rainbow.' He laughed and she chuckled, looked up at him.

'What, it's true,' she pouted and then closed her eyes as he kissed her softly.

He pulled away and said, 'You are adorable. No other word for it.' She chuckled and closed her eyes again, felt him press his lips to hers one more time. He sighed and then pulled her legs over his lap, so that she was more comfortable.

'You know, I kinda like storms.' He opened his eyes and looked at her biting her lip, her eyes looking as though she was reliving old memories, memories of better times, of when she was just a little girl in a white dress, running in the garden and being happy, not worrying about anything at all.

'Why?' She shrugged and played with a string of her/his (it _seriously_ didn't matter anymore) cardigan, wrapping it around her fingers then releasing it, only to repeat the motion again.

'I don't know. It's just that it seems as though all the negative energy is released and all your worries and problems disappear for that one brief moment when thunder and lightning rip the sky. And it just repeats over and over again and it feels like you're surfing on this gigantic wave and when the storm stops you just fall.' She looked out the window to the street. The trees looked like they were thrown into a washing machine because of the wind.

'It sounds a little crazy, but I know what you mean. It feels the same to me.' She looked back at him and furrowed her brows, said, 'Yeah.'

After a minute of silence, he spoke up, 'When I was 10 years old, we went to Los Angeles to a carneval or something. We came right when the storm was raging. It was so loud and the lightnings so bright that I thought that this is where it ends. That this is where I find _my _end. But it wasn't really that bad. We survived without being hurt at all, but I was afraid of storms for 3 years after that.' She squeezed his hip with her hand and kissed his shoulder.

'Now it's fine. Sometimes I still get a fright, but it doesn't happen often.' He looked at the TV and pulled Kate closer to him, kissing her head, her temple, her cheek. She chuckled and pulled her head back, stared at his lips.

'_This_ felt strangely familiar before, but now it's even more,' she told him and brushed her thumb over his adam's apple, felt him smile against her forehead.

It really did feel familiar. Like they have been doing this for a lot longer than they really were. And it wasn't that she minded. She really didn't. She liked the thought of being wrapped in his arms and the kissing part _definitely _wasn't bad at all. It was just that she was afraid of where this would lead to. Her mom told her that it's okay to be afraid, but if you're too afraid, then you're never going to move forward. You'll only be backstepping all of your moves, trying to figure it out. Trying to let go of the fear. But sometimes, in just the right quantity, that fear could be helpful. It could help you make decisions based on your feelings. And even if it sometimes felt strange how she could communicate with him, with just facial expression or a look in his eyes, she knew that it was meant to be. Somehow, _they_ were meant to be.

'I know.' His voice startled her, pulled her out of her thoughts and she jumped a little.

'You okay?' he laughed and she nodded, pulled herself up so that she was sitting eye-level with him.

'Mhm, yeah I'm fine.' She leaned forward and captured his lips in a kiss, sealing her mouth over his, the temptation so strong that she couldn't resist it.

They pulled apart as the thunder broke their explorations, both of them wincing. They chuckled and their lips met once more, the room getting too hot, even with the extremely high level of dampness outside.

His hand dropped her brown curls to rest at her hip, squeezing as her hands cupped his face, angled it the way she wanted it to be. The nails on her hands pressed against his cheeks, travelled down to his neck, his collarbone and he couldn't supress a shiver, couldn't hold back a groan as she chuckled into his mouth, her tongue touching his teeth.

Suddenly, a phone rang and Kate tried to pull away from his searching mouth, even as he dropped his hands to her back and pressed her closer.

'Don't move.' It sounded like an order. He definitely wasn't pleading with her, and she most definitely didn't want to move, but the call could be important. It was worth pushing him away. Right?

'What if it's my parents?' The words were whispered against his lips and he took her breath in, pulling her with it, her mouth descending over his.

'Don't care,' he stated and grabbed one of her thighs, pushed it on his left, so that she was now straddling him.

She broke the kiss, chuckled and leaned back to pick up the phone from the coffee table. The screen said it was her father and she immediately pressed the Answer call button.

'Hi, dad.' She looked at Rick and saw him close his eyes slowly, most probably concentrating on finding his breath again.

'Yeah, I'm fine. I was out with Rick, but we got home just as it started to pour. We were a little soaked, but yeah… Of course I made him stay here.' She smirked at the boy looking at her and mouthed, 'I told you.' He grinned and squeezed the curves of her hips, kissed her neck.

''Kay, see you, bye. Love you too.' She ended the call and threw the phone to the far end of the couch, pulled Rick's head away from the skin on her neck.

'My dad said you have to stay here until the storm ends.' Rick chuckled and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips.

'I have no problem with your dad's logic.' She grinned and nodded.

'Me neither.'

He dragged his hands up her thighs and back down, looking at her face, watching her blush.

'Can I ask you something?' He nodded, smiled.

'You really don't know your father?' His smile faltered and he shook his head.

'No. He left my mom when I wasn't even born. Whenever I ask her anything about him or try to get her to tell me his name, she tells me that it's better if I don't know.'

Kate ran a hand through his hair and down his neck, squeezing lightly, urging him to go on.

'Sometimes I imagine him playing baseball with me or telling me all kinds of stories, sometimes I imagine how it would feel if he woke me up in the morning.' Kate closed her eyes, remembered how her father woke her up this morning, realizing that Rick never had that. She was angry with his father for leaving him and his mother. All he wanted was a dad to joke around with, to talk about girls with. But he doesn't have one and he may never know what that feels like. And that was just wrong.

'But it's quite okay. He has to be a bad guy if he left my mom when she was pregnant without a second thought, right?' She nodded and brushed her thumb over his temple.

He leaned into her, kissed her softly.

'You know, you don't just smell really, really good, you taste that way too.' He laughed and pressed his lips to her cheek.

'Like rainbow?' She chuckled with him as she nodded and they stayed like that for quite some time, his chin on her shoulder, her nose pressed into his skull, both with their eyes closed, their bodies pressed together.

'You asleep?' he murmured after 10 minutes of silence and she shook her head, drew back to look at him. She almost fell asleep, though. Apparently her new schoolmate also made a very good pillow. She smiled at the thought and placed a barely-there kiss on his lips.

He let out a breath and asked, 'What are you thinking about?'

'Nothing. Just that I'm not feeling my legs anymore.' Straddling him for 15 minutes wasn't such a good idea after all. She could already feel her sking throbbing, like someone was sticking needles into it.

'Oh, sorry.' He let go of her thighs and allowed her to fall back into the couch.

'Now it hurts.' She frowned and he grinned at her, skimmed one hand along her leg to curl at her knee.

'Want me to kiss it and make it better?' She chuckled and winced as she felt the blood rushing back to her feet, her veins pulsing with energy and life.

'You okay?' She closed her eyes and waited for a couple of seconds until the stinging subsided and she could move her legs without them actually hurting.

'I am now.' He nodded and leaned into her personal space, used his teeth to tug her bottom lip in his mouth. She sighed and he pushed her backwards until she was lying down on the couch, her head resting on a pillow. Their legs tangled, looking pretty much the same as their mouths and tongues in that particular moment.

She felt heat rushing through her body, his own easing onto her, pressing down. She chuckled in the kiss as she felt something vibrate in his pocket.

He leaned back, looked at her curiously. 'What?' She wedged one hand between their bodies, found his pocket even as she heard his sharp intake of air, pulling his phone out and showing him the screen.

'Someone's calling you.' She desperately tried not to laugh when she saw him blush and answer the call.

'Hi mom… No, I'm with Kate… At her place… Yes, we're both okay… No, I'm not leaving here until the storm stops… I know… I don't know… Yeah, somewhere around then… I'll make sure… It's outside… Mom, seriously! Yeah, we'll be fine, bye… You have fun too.' He threw his phone so that it landed next to Kate's.

'My mom is seriously annoying.' Kate laughed.

'No, your mom is awesome.'

'You don't know her.'

'Not yet.' He saw her eyes widen, her fingers twitch at his shoulder blades. She just said that she wants them, this thing they have, to last because seriously, how many teenager couples last that long that they know each other's moms that well? Oh, God. She's a mess. A mess in love. But she didn't have to think about that yet, did she?

'Are you saying that you're hanging out with me only because of my mother?' he feigned mock offense and she sighed, relieved, had to let a smile shine across her face.

'No, I'm actually an alien robot and am waiting for the right opportunity to kidnap you and your mother. That better?' He gaped at her, mouth falling open as he breathed deeply.

'The girl who spins crazy theories about aliens and robots… Oh my God, that is just _so _sexy.' His voice dropped low at the end of the sentence and he kissed her fiercely. She pushed him away and laughed, felt his mouth resting on her chin, his eyes laughing too.

'You seriously have problems, Richard.'

'And you seriously have to stop saying my name like that,' he stated as he closed his eyes and gulped. She hummed in his ear, the sound catching him off guard, making him jump. He looked at her, eyes slightly darker than usual, the smirk decorating her gorgeous face.

He swallowed and kissed her again, his mouth insistent, dragging his toungue over hers, his hands wandering in her hair. She brought one hand up to find its way into his hair, kept the other one low at his waist, gripping him tight. She moaned and as the result felt his fingers fist in her hair, making knots there, but she couldn't care less, really.

He broke away, panting, tried to speak but all that came out of his mouth was a low growl. He closed his eyes shut, licked his lips, tasting her on his lips, on his tongue, in his own mouth. The mouth that has just kissed hers. Passionately.

His eyes opened as he breathed, 'Houston, we have a problem.' She arched an eyebrow at him, saw him reaching down between their pressed bodies as he said, 'My pants are too tight.' She laughed, breathless, watched him try to make his lower body feel more comfortable, pulling the fabric of his shorts away from the small bump that had formed there and had Kate suspiciously licking her lips.

He sighed out of frustration and untangled himself from her, stood up. She raised herself up on her elbows, her hair falling like a waterfall around her shoulders and he really, really wanted to lie down on top of her again, but he was having some major problems right now. He was wearing the wrong kind of shorts, definitely too tight for something like this and it hurt just a little bit. She rolled her eyes at him when he lifted one of his knees and put it back down, repeating the same thing with the other.

He saw her stand up and pull his hand away from his hips to lead him in the kitchen. She let go of his hand and filled a glass with water, passing it to him.

Cold. Yes, he needed cold. Definitely needed cold after that make out session. He swallowed the icy liquid, accepted the fact that it burned its way down his throat.

'You better now?' He looked at her, saw her staring at the area of the most sensitive part of his body. He gulped and said, 'Yeah, good - I'm good.' She laughed and shook her head at him.

'Want to drink something more tasty now that you took care of your problems?' He grinned and nodded, coming to stand beside her, but leaving 3 feet of space between them for his own good.

'Juice? Cola? More water? I think we have Dr Pepper.' She opened the fridge and rummaged around, looking at the cans and nodding.

'Yeah, Dr Pepper is here.' She turned her head to look at him, her eyes questioning.

'Um, just juice, thanks.' She closed the fridge, dragged her fingers across the silver surface as she walked over to the counter, grabbed his abandoned glass and poured some orange juice into it.

He smiled as she handed him the glass and poured herself a glass of juice, too. They drank in silence, staring at each other like they have just met. When she finished her drink, she came to him and took his glass from his hands, clearly ignoring the fact that he hasn't drunk it all yet. She put both glasses on the counter, sliding them towards the other end, looking back at him. Her bottom lip found its way between her teeth as Kate rubbed his chest with her hand, dropping it lower until it hit the area of his navel, pressing a little. He forced some air into his lungs and grabbed her shoulders with his hands.

'Kate… You… It's gonna hurt again.' She laughed, threw her head back, then dragged her hand slowly upwards, sliding over his neck, her fingers finding home behind his ear, her thumb at the strong line of his jaw. He leaned forwards and tried to capture her mouth but she moved back, angled her head so that he kissed her hair when he tried again. He huffed and pouted, 'This is not fair. You can _tease_ me, but I can't _kiss _you?' She chuckled and nodded, winking at him.

He should probably really step away from her right then. But he just couldn't. No matter what, because she was driving him into her, pulling the invisible strings that she tied around his neck the first moment he looked into her eyes.

He didn't pull away. Did quite the opposite, actually. Groaned, wedged a leg between hers, pressed against her, pushed her into the counter, kissing her, his hands travelling up at her sides.

She gasped as his thumbs touched the sides of her breasts. Even though she was wearing a bra, she could feel the hotness travel from his fingers to her skin, burning her.

'Rick, I-' He shut her up with his lips, softer now than before.

She could feel his heart thumping wildly under her hand and felt her own traitorous heart joining his.

'God, Rick, just wait.' He pulled away, his lungs grasping for air. She dropped her forehead on his shoulder, waited until her breathing became less ragged. Better safe than sorry, right? If she would speak with the husky voice it would only made him kiss her again, she just knew it.

'I think the storm's over.' She drew her head back up as she said those words, saw him frown.

'Yeah, it looks that way.' She rolled her eyes and kissed his neck, the skin hot under her mouth.

'That doesn't mean you have to go, you know?' Her head lifted to see his expression and found a child-like delight in his eyes.

'Really?'

She laughed. He could seriously be such a child sometimes. Not that it bothered her, though. It was kind of hot, actually.

'Yes, Rick, really. Unless you want to go, of course.' He didn't waste any time, kissed her soundly, pulled back just enough so that he could speak.

'Are you kidding me? I can't think of one place I'd rather be than right here.' She let a grin spread out on her face, felt his responsing one against the line of her upper lip.

'We should consider going back to the couch. I'm not too fond of spending the whole afternoon here.' He laughed and extracted himself away from her, leaving her some room to finally breathe normally. She had a feeling that she was breathing rather shallow these last few minutes.

'It's almost evening.' She looked up at him as she plopped herself down on the couch, tucking her legs under her.

'What?' He sat down next to her, pointed at the wall above the TV. The clock read that it was already 5 PM. Geez, the time passed by so fast.

A few minutes and one make out session later, they lied down on the couch, her head resting on his shoulder, their legs entwined.

'Kate?'

'Hmm?'

'Do you mind if I fall asleep for a while? You kinda worn me out yesterday and today.'

She chuckled and kissed his collarbone, closed her eyes and sighed.

'No, you go ahead. I think I'm gonna doze off, too.' She felt him smile in her hair as he kissed it.

'Have a nice nap, Kate.' She yawned and smiled to herself. He's worn her out, too.

'You too, Rick.'

* * *

><p>It was only two hours later that they woke up as they heard the voices behind the locked door. They shot up, Kate realizing it's Lanie and Javi, fumbling for her keys as Lanie's voice called her, told her to <em>Come and open this damn door already. <em>

He tried to look as innocent as possible, shuffling through TV channels when Lanie and Javi walked into the living room, both of them noticing Kate's messy hair and rumpled clothes, still wearing his cardigan. Wait. He thought he threw that on the other side of the room when they kissed before falling down and dozing off.

'Looking much at home there, Mr Rodgers.' His head snapped up to look at Lanie holding her hands on her hips with an arched eyebrow and a grinning Javier standing next to her. He grinned and stood up.

'Hello to you too, Lanie. Javi,' he offered as he nodded to his friend, grinning.

Lanie pulled Kate to the kitchen by her elbow and began with her interrogation, of course. She wouldn't be Lanie if she didn't.

'What happened between you two?'

'Nothing, why would you think that?' She panicked a little, tried to remember if he held her hand or kissed her in front of Lanie and her boyfriend. He didn't. Did he?

'Oh, please. Your hair is sticking out from all places, as is his. Your clothes are all rumpled and his look the same.'

'It's not what you think, we just fell asleep on the couch.'

'Yeah, right. And you did _only _that,' she said sarcastically as she stared Kate down.

'Okay, so we might have, um… Kissed a little.' Her friend squealed and clamped her hands over her mouth.

'Seriously? Wait, just _a little_?' Kate bit her lip and shook her head and that was really all the answer Lanie could get.

'Oh my gosh, you two are so adorable, this is so sweet.'

'Lanie, calm down, it really isn't that much of a big deal.'

'Are you kidding me, girl? You two were eyesexing before you even knew each other's names.'

'Lanie.'

'What? Tell me if I'm wrong.' Kate shook her head again, her smile breaking free.

'Come on, let's go back to the living room.'

They came back and found Rick and Javi talking about a video game.

'Guys, can you drop that fangirl chat and talk about something in English, please?' The boys grinned at Kate and Lanie pulled Javier to the door.

'Where are you going?' Rick asked as he saw them move like a lightning bolt across the room.

'We're going back to Javi's place. Just came to check up on you, but it seems like you're better off without us, so see you tomorrow, bye, have fun.' The words tumbled from Lanie's mouth as she proceeded in closing the door behind them.

They were left alone, standing in the living room.

'Well, what do you want to do, now that the intruders have come and gone?' he asked and she looked at him, smirked.

'I have some ideas that include you, me, the couch and our mouths. You in?' A sly smile spread slowly across his face as he grabbed her waist and pressed her into him.

'When am I not?'

* * *

><p>She broke the kiss, panting, lying on top of him. He was as breathless as she was, but he still kept kissing her neck, her collarbone, everywhere he could reach with his greedy mouth.<p>

She stopped him with a hand to his chin.

'You should really try and breathe sometimes, hopefully you won't faint until then.' He shook his head, kissing her mouth.

'I don't care if I never breathe again, I just need _you_.' She giggled – Wait… She _giggled_. Oh well, might as well just accept it. He's probably going to make her do it again. And then again. And again. And again. And again.

'Maybe it would do you good if you'd stop being so romantic and start thinking practical. You're barely breathing, Rick,' she told him as she squirmed on top of him, tried to get off, give him some air. He pulled her closer to him instead, dragged his hands up and down her back under her t-shirt, kissed her again.

'Still not caring.' She sighed and pushed against his chest, her elbows coming up to force her body to stand up, move away from him. She felt his loud exhale, followed by a deep inhale as he finally got the air safely inside his lungs, his breathing calming down with the mad beating of his heart.

She was looking down at him, standing next to the couch with her arms crossed against her chest, still having difficulty breathing. After their breathing calmed down, she pulled him up from the couch and he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her gently.

'I will never _ever _get tired of kissing you.' She chuckled and kissed him back eagerly.

'Good. 'Cause I'm not planning on stopping kissing _you_.' He laughed, looked up at the clock.

9.01 PM. Was it really that late already?

He sighed and closed her eyes, then, just because he could and because she let him, kissed her lips again.

'I have to go,' he said once they broke apart.

'So soon?' He laughed and kissed the frown off her face.

'It's 9 PM. And you need sleep. We both need it.' Another kiss.

'But the storm's not over.'

'It is, look outside.' The weather was really fine, actually.

'Oh well, there goes my excuse.' He laughed and pulled her with him to the bathroom, took his stuff and the helmets in his hands. He walked out to his motorbike and checked his pocket for his phone, realizing that he must have put it back in.

He dumped the clothes under the seat, Kate's helmet coming to rest on top of them as he shimmered his jacket on. He turned towards her, trying to hug her but found her already there, nipping on his lower lip. He smiled and kissed her softly.

'Sleep tight, Kate.' She nodded and hugged him, hands pressing into his back, her breath tickling his neck.

She stepped back after a minute, watched as he put on his helmet.

'Good night, Rick.' His eyes twinkled.

'Until tomorrow, Kate.' She grinned in amusement.

'Can't you just say good night like everybody else?'

'Until tomorrow sounds more…hopeful.' He winked and sat on the bike, turning the key in the ignition.

'Until tomorrow, then.' He nodded and dropped the shade on his helmet, took one last appreciative look of Kate, then rode off into the sunset. Literally. So cliché.

Kate turned around on her heels, grinning uncontrollably, running her hands through her tousled hair. This day was one to remember.

**How'd you like it? Although I really really love swordplay, I couldn't resist getting them together. Seriously, they just have that spark that could quite certainly light the whole story on fire if they wouldn't kiss in this chapter. **

**Let me know if I did the right thing.**

**Ariela  
><strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**I AM SO, SO, SO, SOOOOOO TERRIBLY SORRY! **

**I know that I haven't updated in almost a month. I had to deal with writer's block _again _and then before I could get rid of it, I got mono. **

**So I was sick and stuck home for 3 weeks with nothing to do except writing, so I tried that, but I had no ideas for High School Love.**

** I managed to write some one-shots though and I'll upload one at a time with each chapter of HSL. I just hope you'll be able to forgive me. **

**+ I know that this chapter is really short, but I had to end it here in order to continue the next one from point zero. I promise that chapter 9 will be as long as chapter 7. 'Kay?**

** Love you guys. (:  
><strong>

**CHAPTER 8: AND I DON'T KNOW WHY I CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU**

She walked slowly through the parking lot in front of the school, flashing smiles to people she recognized. She felt different today, it seemed as though she wasn't even herself. Usually, when she walked into school, she immediately walked to the lockers and looked for Lanie, but now after yesterday, she found herself searching the school halls for him. She bumped into a few people on her way to her locker, apologized to Miss Okey when she ran into her, sent her papers flying on the floor, helped her pick them up.

She shook her head at herself, ran a hand through her hair. She seriously wasn't intending on making a fool of herself because her eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything but on him.

She had to pull herself together. For her own sake. Just forget about him. At least until he shows up and… And does what? Kiss her? No, hug her. Or maybe he'll kiss her after all. She groaned once she got to her locker, bumped her head into the cold metal, heard her friend snort next to her.

'You okay?' She straightened up and nodded at Jenny, who was staring amused at her. She let out a breath she was holding and hugged the blonde girl in greeting.

'How was at the cabin?' Jenny's face lit up and she told her everything that she and Kevin had been doing while they were up there.

'I'm glad you guys had fun.' Jenny nodded and thanked her, then asked her how was with Rick. She blushed the second Jenny mentioned his name, couldn't stop herself from doing it. Jenny's eyes widened and she looked at Kate suspiciously, then spotted something over her shoulder, smirked and turned away. Kate furrowed her brows and turned around only to find herself enveloped in a hug.

'Good morning, beautiful.' Oh, yes. Her butterflies woke up too and her insides were dancing, enjoying having Rick so close after a little over 10 hours. It wasn't that long, but she has really, really, _really _missed him.

'Morning.' He pulled away, but kept his arms around her waist, leaned in to press his lips to hers once, twice, before she gave up and sighed, couldn't hold herself back anymore, kissed him full on the lips.

'I've missed you,' he pouted once they pulled back and she grinned at him, kissed him again.

'I've missed you too.' His eyes sparkled as he kissed her cheek and then stepped back, took her hand, stared in her eyes.

'Well, aren't you two just adorable.' Kate winced as she heard Lanie's voice next to her. So the teasing began. She wasn't entirely sure that she was going to come back home alive today after school.

'Hi, Lanie.' Lanie wasn't even focusing on her and Rick anymore though, because Javi pulled her in the class, attaching his lips to her neck.

'Do we look that way, too?' Kate looked at Rick and bit her lip, wondering, then grinned.

'Nah, we're sexier.' He laughed at her joke and stole her lips once again, pulled back and squeezed her hand, walking with her in the classroom.

Unfortunately, Josh and the cheerleaders were already there.

As soon as Josh saw her, he hurried over to her, tried to grab her, but stopped once he realized she's holding hands with Rick.

'What the hell, dude! I thought we had a deal.' Rick snorted and pushed Kate behind him, tried to distance her away from Josh.

'There was no deal, Josh.' Motorcycle Boy fisted his hands and took one step closer, looked back at Kate.

'Oh yeah, there was. She told you that nothing happened that night?' Rick nodded carefully.

'Well, I might have been lying about that, but it still doesn't mean that she doesn't belong to me.' Kate let go of Rick's hand to wrap her arms around his waist, hugging him from behind, touching her forehead to his shoulder blade.

'As well as I can see, she's hugging me now, not you.' Josh's eyes narrowed and he tried to lift his fisted hand to hit Rick, but was stopped as Gina threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Rick and Kate both stared at the scene, thinking how ridiculous it looked.

'Hey babe,' Josh said once they parted and he pulled her closer to him, walked to his seat, kissing her.

Kate chuckled softly into Rick's back and he couldn't help but grin. He turned around, put one arm around her shoulders, his right hand pushing a lock of wavy hair behind her ear. He leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss, winked at her. She grinned and squeezed him, pulled herself away from him and sat down in her usual seat.

Just as the bell rang, a woman in her late twenties entered the classroom, Miss Kershey.

'Hello, class. Everyone sit down where you're supposed to, come on.'

Half of the class started moving, sitting in their seats. Miss Kershey sighed happily and closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them as she began talking about something Kate had no idea what it even meant. She and Rick were sneaking glances at each other all the time, which was a little hard to do, seeing as Rick was seated in front of Madison, two rows away from Kate. Halfway through the lesson, Kate saw a paper flying towards her and she catched it mid-air, unfolded it to look at the carefully written words.

_I miss you._

She blushed and smiled, then looked at Rick and sent him an air kiss. He squeezed his eyes shut and licked his lips, wished so much that he could be alone with her somewhere, anywhere as long as it's only the two of them, like yesterday during the storm.

The bell rang and he sprung to his feet, grabbed his stuff, ran to Kate and practically crushed her into him, kissing her, pulling her towards him. His lips pushed down on hers, felt her respond in pleasure. The only thing that mattered to them in that moment was the chance to kiss, to be near, to press as close as possible. She pulled away after a minute and rested her forehead to his, tried to catch her breath.

'What has gotten into you?' she asked as she calmed down her heart and her lungs, swallowing. He groaned in response to her question and kissed her again, his tongue running over her bottom lip and just as she opened her mouth to let him in, he pulled back and stepped away from her, putting some much-needed distance between them.

'You're driving me crazy.' She chuckled at his choice of words and grabbed his hand to pull him out of the classroom.

They walked down the hallway to the gym, parted with one last lingering kiss, went to their separate changing rooms.

The gym smelled like sweat and the air was practically non-breathable. Kate choked on a gasp as she stepped into the gym, quickly retrieved back to the hall, not wanting to suffocate in there.

'God, it smells awfull,' Jenny complained and took a deep breath. Lanie nodded, looked back at Kate who was walking towards Mr Cash's office.

Kate knocked on the door and heard a faint 'Come in'. She stepped into the office and said hello to the coach.

'Hi, Kate. What's up?'

'We're all gonna suffocate in there, coach.' He scrunched up his face, put down his pen and stood up.

'What do you mean?'

'The air is awfull. I thought that the janitor took care of the windows.' Coach Cash frowned a bit and crossed his arms.

'I know. It's because of the storm. The windows are jammed and he can't open them. I sent him to take a better, closer look at them 10 minutes ago. Isn't he in there?' Kate shrugged and went back to the gym, the coach following behind.

As she stepped in once more, the air was slightly better and she noticed that all of the windows were opened, the breeze ruffling her hair.

'Mmm, you smell a lot better than the gym,' she heard someone say behind her and she turned around, found Rick etremely close, kissing the corner of her mouth.

He pulled his head back to look at her and his smile was so tender that she thought she was going to melt and become a puddle of a love-sick teenager right there on the gym floor.

He leaned back in, closed his eyes, touched his lips to hers again, brushing his nose over hers, breathing her in.

She took a breath, then pressed her lips to his, kissing him gently, running her hands over his back. His palms cupped her cheeks, thumbs brushing under her eyes, smoothing the skin, making her feel sleepy.

She felt so loved, so complete and so completely _in love_ right then and if this was how it felt, she knew why she would be afraid of it. Because it felt so strong, the pull he had, the words he spoke, everything and anything, all and nothing at the same time.

She doubted that she would be able to let go of this feeling. Because as much as it was scary, it was so beautiful that her blood sang with fire burning through her veins and her heart, through every inch of her body.

If this was how love felt, then she had no doubts she found the right guy to do it with.

He was so good and so strong. Handsome, beautiful. Amusing, determined and so much more than that. He was perfect and even that couldn't describe him like it should. Because he deserved so much more. _So _much more than just her and her flaws.

'Stop overthinking.' She smiled in the kiss and nodded, dropped her thoughts for now, decided to think about that later, alone, at home. The time spent with him was precious, so she decided not to analyze everything now, whilst being in his arms.

'You're still thinking.' She pulled back and looked at him curiously.

'How do you know?'

'Your hands stop moving when you think.' She laughed and hugged him, burried her face into his shoulder.

The sound of a whistle broke them apart, stupid grins on their faces.

'Okay kids, it's time for some volleyball.'

* * *

><p>After PE was over, Kate tried to go to the changing room, but Rick grabbed her arm and pulled her in the janitor's closet.<p>

He pushed her against the wall and kissed her, his fists on the wall on each side of her head.

He tried to keep his hands to himself. He really did. But she made that kind of impossible, when she grabbed his hips and pulled him closer to her. She was fierce, her mouth hot on his, one leg wrapping around his calf. He stopped trying to hold himself back.

His hands went under her sweaty t-shirt, pressing hard against her abdomen, drifting higher and higher, then just as he was about to do something kinky, they heard Lanie's voice on the otherside of the door.

'Where did Kate go?' They broke apart, gasping for air, his hands clutching her sides, her hands fisting his t-shirt.

'I don't know,' Jenny's voice joined Lanie's.

Kate and Rick listened carefully and heard Javi and Kev say something about Rick missing, that they couldn't find him.

Lanie gasped and her eyes widened with realization.

'Guys, you do realize that they're a couple now, don't you?' Everyone nodded and she continued, 'Well, they are obviously crazy about each other, so I wouldn't be surprised if they were hidden somewhere, making out.' The gang gasped too and Javi said, 'I think it's probably best if we just wait for them in the cafeteria or somewhere. They'll probably show up there, seeing as we have a free hour.' Others agreed with him and they walked down the hall.

Rick and Kate were trying desperately not to laugh. Their friends were just talking about them making out as they were pressed against the wall.

When they heard the rest of the gang leave, they burst out laughing.

'Oh my God, if they knew-'

'-they'd probably run,' he ended it for her and she laughed into his shirt, uncurling her fingers to drag her hands up in his hair as she pulled her head back and bit her lip.

He dipped his head, kissed her bottom lip, lowered his hands to grab the barely-there love handles on her back, felt her amused smile against his own.

The smile was gone though, because he pulled her towards him, bumped his hips into hers, her heel digging into the muscle on his calf. She let out a tiny breath as she pulled back a bit, tried to look into his eyes, but he didn't let her. He just crashed his mouth to hers, their tongues finding each other immediately, her fingers knotting in his hair. He dropped his hands to her bottom, cupped it and pressed her closer as she moaned and grinned into his mouth.

'Eager?' He nodded and pressed his lips to her neck, his tongue licking her skin, his throat growling at the contact.

Sweaty.

And wet.

Both.

And she tasted _so _good.

He hit a sensitive spot on her neck, sucked there, felt her shudder and pull his head back to kiss him again.

He dived one hand in her curls, dragging the other one up and down her lifted thigh, the hot skin slightly raised, goosebumps forming everywhere he touched her. He lifted her leg higher, felt it wrap around his thigh, but as that happened, his hips came into a delicious contact with hers and they both gasped, pulled apart.

He was pressing into her, she could feel it and she had to close her eyes at the thought of how good it felt.

'Kate.' His voice was husky, low and dark, rich, right how it was supposed to be to make her moan and kiss him passionately again.

It was really great, kissing in the janitor's closet and they were too absorbed in each other to realize that someone like the janitor or the principal could walk in on them.

'Rick, we have to stop,' she said as she pulled back and knocked her hips into his, pure instinct, her body moving towards pleasure and warmth. He groaned and flushed his chest with hers, everything pressing together, everything, and nothing was left out as he grabbed both her thighs and lifted her up, pressing her against the wall, kissing, her body shivering.

'I can't,' he said and fused his lips with hers again, just for a fraction of a second, then continued, 'I can't stop kissing you.'

She rolled her eyes and grinned, kissing his jaw, travelling to his ear.

'As much as I love this,' she whispered, 'we're at school, making out in the janitor's closet and our friends are kind of waiting for us at the cafeteria.' Well, she had a valid point, good reason to stop, but he didn't want to, so he pouted, 'But I want to kiss you.' She laughed and kissed him.

'You did, now let me down, so we can fix ourselves and go to our friends.' He showed no signs of moving, so she sealed her lips with his, kissing him eagerly, her tongue teasing him, then dropped her mouth and kissed his throat, his adam's apple, his collarbone, the line where his t-shirt met his skin, all the while kept her hands travelling down his chest and stomach and as she felt his hands lose their grip on her thighs, his chest pulling away from hers to give her better access to wherever she wanted to go with her hands, she wriggled out of his hold and pulled away, stepped around him.

They were both panting and grinning, running their hands through their hair to try and look more presentable before showing up in the school halls.

'Now I know why Ryan can't be the responsible one.' She laughed at him and pulled him out of the janitor's closet.

* * *

><p>When they arrived to the cafeteria hand in hand, they saw their friends chatting by their table. Javi saw them first and greeted them, 'Guys, hey. Where were you?' Kate blushed as she remembered Rick's body against hers and shrugged, answered, 'Just talking.' They all - even Rick - gave her a that's-seriously-all you-could-come-up-with look and she rolled her eyes, sighing annoyed.<p>

'Fine, we were making out. Happy now?'

Lanie grinned at her and pulled her down in a chair next to hers. 'Very,' she answered honestly and released Kate's arm to take a bite of her half-eaten sandwich. Rick was just grinning at Kate, apparently very amused. She rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder lightly.

'Eat.' He nodded and winked at her, slipped a hand under the table and squeezed her knee. She narrowed her eyes at him and ate her own sandwich, not caring at all about the curious looks her friends were shooting towards her and Rick.

The free period passed too fast. They went outside after they ate their food and chatted for a while and before they realized it, their free time was over. They went to their class and sat down on their places, talking about this year's Berkeley festival.

'Jason said that it was supposed to last a whole month this year.'

'Oh come on, Kev. You seriously think that they plan for it to last that long? I don't think it's gonna happen, man. Berkeley hasn't got enough money to do it.' Rick joined in on the conversation, 'It doesn't matter how long it lasts, 2 weeks as usual are enough for me.' Javi snorted and said, 'It'd be awesome if it lasted longer. Just think about it… No grades for a whole month? That's pretty cool.'

Berkeley festival was most popular among students because the mayor of Berkeley - in favor of having as many people as possible attending the festival – ordered every school in Berkeley to go easy on their students, which resulted in having no tests, no grades, no real classes. It usually started on September 24th and lasted for two weeks. Both of the Saturdays, the first and the last, ended with fireworks at midnight over Ramona Bridge near the Berkeley port and those two days were usually the busiest, because there was really a lot of people on the streets, even from other countries. The saddest thing about the festival was that a lot of teenagers attended it only because some of the bars gave alcohol even to them. The mayor knew about this problem, but never really tried to solve it. They were teenagers after all and sooner or later life would show them that living is not partying.

Rick just shrugged and opened his white notebook, scribbled down a few words, looked up at Kate and smiled right before the bell rang.

* * *

><p>After Maths, Kate was the one to grab Rick and kiss him. He chuckled and hugged her tight, brushed his nose over her ear, his lips trailing behind, kissing her earlobe.<p>

'You still thinking about the janitor's closet?' he asked her and she laughed, tugged on his hair to look him in the eyes.

'Mmm, yeah. You?'

'God yeah.' She bit her lip and leaned in, ran her tongue over his, pulled back and twined their fingers, pulled him out of the classroom.

They walked down the hallway laughing, their sides pressed together.  
>'So, I've been thinking…' he trailed off and she stopped, looked at him curiously.<p>

'I've been thinking if you wanted to come to my place today? My mom's not home and if I don't spend any more time with you outside of school, I'm gonna lose my mind.' She chuckled and gave him a peck on the lips, dragged him in the classroom. She stopped by the windows, pushed him down to sit on the window sill, sitting down next to him. She whispered in his ear, 'No funny bussiness and I'm in.' He exhaled loudly, apparently relieved and nodded seriously. She pulled away and kissed him teasingly, her hand resting on his thigh, one travelling up his neck, his jaw, into his hair. She broke the kiss with a loud 'pop' and licked her lips, grinned at his dazed face. He looked like he needed some time to recover from the kiss, so she stood up and took a step towards her chair, when she felt him wrap his arms around her from behind, effectively trapping her, his fingers digging in her stomach, his breath ghosting over her neck and into her shirt, his eyes stranding down before she turned her head around a bit and he stole her lips from an awkward but very sexy angle. She sighed and tried to turn around, but he wouldn't let her. He nipped on her bottom lip, her tongue, and then soothed it with his own. He leaned away from her lips, slowly opened his eyes to found hers still closed, her lips parted.

She opened her lids and found him already in his seat, writing in his notebook. He looked up with a pen between his fingers and he winked at her. She realized what just happened. She practically sedated him with her kiss, so he returned the favor. It was payback.

She rolled her eyes and sat down in a chair next to his. She peaked over his shoulder to try and sneak a peak at what he was writing, but the bell rang before she could see anything but black letters.

Chemistry was quite interesting, really. Miss Rain got angry with Madison because she wasn't listening again, this time because she was flirting with Josh over the classroom. Madison lost her temper and yelled at Miss Rain, which in return sent her to principal Charles Whitby's office. The whole screaming match was over in a minute, after Madison threatened Miss Rain that she'll take care she gets fired and slammed the door after her. Mis Rain looked half relieved that Madison left and half afraid that she'll get fired, because Madison's father was one of the most influential people in Berkeley.

After the bell rang, Kate walked over to flustered Miss Rain, told her that she doesn't have to worry because Javi's dad and Johanna Beckett can put Madison and her father in place. Miss Rain dramatically hugged Kate and thanked her before storming out of the class.

'You're a really good person,' Rick told her, wrapping his hand around hers. She smiled and looked down at their moving feet, then said, 'Thank you. My parents are guilty of it.' He smiled and squeezed her hand.

'Remind me to thank them next time.' Her eyes shot up to his and she grinned, punched his arm. He let out a soft laugh, kissed her temple and they slowly made their way to the next class.

**Sooooo? I known it's not really my best work, but I tried? **

**Anyway, next chapter will be up faster than this one, I hope. I have a lot to catch up with at school because I was gone for so long, but I promise I'll try to write faster and not let any more blocks form in my head. **

**Thanks for sticking up with me. **

**Ariela  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Here it is. I'm surprised about how quickly I got rid of that writer's block. I wrote this in 12 hours or something like that. **

**And I am really sorry, but there won't be another chapter coming so fast, because I have a lot to study for. **

**This chapter was kind of an emotional one for me. Especially the part where Kate tells some things about her past. So yeah.**

**So, I hope you like it. And thanks for all your alerts, favorites and reviews. They make me happy.**

* * *

><p><strong><em>This is for my dearest friend, who survived and is now stronger than ever. <em>**

**_I love you._**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 9: AND HER HEART IS BREAKING IN FRONT OF ME<strong>

Oh, he was doomed.

She grabbed a handful of whipped cream and ran after him, spinning him around to press her hand against his face, smudging the whipped cream all over his forehead, his nose, cheeks, chin, mouth. He gasped with closed eyes and she removed her hand, grinned, satisfied with her payback.

It all started when they got to his place – with his motorbike, _of course_ – and he pulled a cake out of the fridge, saying that he wanted to eat something sweet. She asked him if he wouldn't rather just kiss her, but he waved her off, dug a finger into the whipped cream on the top, pretended like he was going to eat it, but at the last minute directed it towards her, stained her cheek with the white cream. He ran away from her towards his room, licking his finger in process and that's practically how they ended up here, his face all sticky from the whipped cream, Kate's cheek looking like she had an Indian battle sign drawn under her eye.

Rick laughed and licked his mouth clean of the sweet cream, suddenly finding it covered with Kate's own mouth, her tongue joining his, helping him get it off.

He had to admit that whipped cream was sweet, but it seriously _really _couldn't compare to how she tasted.

She was more sweet than anything, _anything _he has ever tried eating or drinking and it seemed like he couldn't get enough of her. He drew his hands to her back and pressed her closer, her hands running softly over the hair on the nape of his neck. She traced her lips and tongue over his left cheek, then back to his lips, repeating the same motion with the other cheek. He shivered and moaned and growled and laughed all at once as he played with words a bit and realized that she was practically eating him.

'Mhumph… This is really sweet,' she murmured against his cheekbone and pulled his upper lip between her teeth, her lips joining them shortly after.

'_You're_ really sweet,' she corrected herself and chuckled with him as the laughter rumbled in his chest.

She pulled away and took a good look at the mess she made. His face was still half-covered with whipped cream, some of it sticking to the ends of his hair above his forehead. She laughed and took his hand, led him to the bathroom, washed her hands first, realizing just now that she had her whipped-cream-dirty hand in his hair a little earlier. She turned his head a bit and saw that he had whipped cream all over his hair at the back of his head. She bit her lip and then slowly ran her wet hands over his face, cleaning it. When she was done with his face, she kissed him softly, then pushed her hands under the water again, drew them away to drag them to his hair. She repeated the motion several times, until she felt his hair slipping with ease through her fingers, completely wet and silky. She broke the kiss and stepped around him to look at her work.

'Well, I can say without doubt that you are completely clean now.'

'Whipped-cream-free?'

'Totally.' He grinned and shook his head so that the water drops flew all over the bathroom.

'Rick!' He stopped and ran his hands through his hair, trying to stylish it a bit.

'What?' He was playing innocent, huh? Okay, well then she can have her revenge on him. They were doing this dance all day anyway so it didn't really matter.

She waited until he stopped styling his hair, looking satisfied, and then she attacked. She surged forward, crashing into him, her mouth dragging over his, her body flushed against his own. He responded equally eager, his hands slipping under her shirt. She smirked and brought her hands up to his hair, destroying his 'piece of art'. He didn't figure it out immediately, but when he did, he pulled away and gasped, his hands flying to his hair, his mouth forming a frown.

'You destroyed a masterpiece!' he gasped in mock offense and crossed his arms on his chest. He looked away from her, obviously trying to ignore her, but she knew just _how _to make him look at her again.

'Rick.' He stayed silent and that was really all she needed to walk out of the bathroom and into his room, calling over her shoulder, 'I'm just gonna go play the guitar for a bit, hope you don't mind.'

She opened the door to his room and searched for his black acoustic guitar, leaving the brown autographed one where it was, because she didn't know if Rick wanted anyone else but him to play it. She found the black guitar and walked with it over to the bed and sat down. She stretched her fingers, then positioned her left hand on the neck of the guitar. She slowly dragged her thumb over the strums and closed her eyes. She swiftly switched the chord, strummed again, this time more daring.

_E._

_Hm._

_Fm._

_Am._

Before she realized it, the melody was rushing out of the guitar, soft tones colliding with her own velvet voice, the words tumbling out of her mouth with no trouble.

By the time she finished, she was slightly out of breath. She hasn't played the guitar in a long time, it's actually been over two years, but she still had it in her. That capability of forgetting about everything, focusing only on the pattern of strumming, on her fingers sliding over the guitar, creating a beautiful symphony of low and high tones, such purity that it absolutely fascinated her every time she allowed herself to be pulled into it.

'Wow.'

Her head shot up to look at his gaping mouth, his eyes settled on hers. He was standing by the door, looking utterly amazed, dazed, everything.

'Hey,' she said, because she couldn't say anything else, because she was still half lulled by the song.

'I didn't know you played. Why didn't you tell me?' She shrugged and moved her fingers to form a chord.

_Em._ A delicate slide of her fingers against the metal and wood.

_G._ Again.

_D. _Another sound resonating from within the depths of the instrument she was holding.

_Am. _

She took her fingers off before she had a chance to get pulled away from reality again and she carefully set the guitar down on the bed, her hands folding in her lap, her eyes finding him closer than before.

'I didn't want to brag.'

'So you play the guitar.'

'And the piano.' His short gasp made her smile, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.

'God, you're one extraordinary girl.' She blushed and laughed.

'Kinda like Mozart, huh?'

'Yeah, a _sexy_ Mozart _and_ a girl with amazing hair rather than a boy with a wig.' A short laugh escaped her mouth.

'I'm glad?' He sinked down onto the bed next to her and lied down, pulled her down to lie beside him.

'No, _I'm _glad.' She huffed, rolled her eyes, but smiled widely at him.

'Of course you are.' He grinned and leaned in to kiss her lips slowly, softly, languid and lingering and so right.

'You play beautifully,' he complimented when they stopped and she closed her eyes, dropped a lazy kiss on his lips before settling her head down on the pillow.

'Thank you.'

'We should do a duet.' She opened one of her eyes and looked at the bridge of his nose, followed the line of his jaw up to his ear, his eyebrows and soft wrinkles on his forehead, all the way down to his eyes.

'Sign up for a contest,' he continued. 'I'm positive that we'd win,' he added at the end and she hummed, closed her eye, inhaling and exhaling slowly.

'Keep dreaming, Richard.'

'Ah, I see we're back to full names, Katherine.' She grinned, still not opening her eyes and curled a hand in his sheets, her toes just barely touching his shins.

'Is that a problem for you?'

'Oh no, it is actually really hot.' She snorted and licked her lips, felt his own press into her cheek.

'I guess I should be taking that as a compliment?'

'Oh yeah, definitely a compliment.' She smiled against her fisted hand and swallowed.

She still wouldn't open her eyes, but he was okay with that, because she looked adorable. Finding her in his room, on his bed playing his guitar was a shock, a surprise and a delight all at the same time. She really was something else. He's never met anyone quite so absorbed into something like she was in so many things and that made her even more special. He was so happy that she let him share these moments with her, that she let him see the vulnerable side of her. He really liked that about her. That she wasn't afraid to be herself when she was with him. No, he loved that about her.

Yeah.

'Penny for your thoughts?'

'Now, Katherine. I believe my thoughts are worth more than a penny, don't you think?'

'Two pennies, then?' He laughed and stopped restraining himself, pulled her closer, his arm wrapping around her, the other one slipping under her head to serve as a pretty comfortable pillow.

'I was thinking something more along the lines of kissing, but okay.' She sighed on a breathless laugh and kissed the underside of his chin.

'Satisfied?'

'I would be if I had Katherine Beckett in my arms, but – Oh wait, I do. I guess I am, then.' He dropped a kiss to her hair, breathed her in as she chuckled in his neck.

'Can I ask you something?'

'Hmm?'

'I just… I have an idea about what you're thinking of telling me about.' Her eyes finally popped open.

'Oh?' she breathed, speechless. He couldn't possibly know what she wanted to tell him, could he?

'You know the thing you mentioned to me Saturday morning?' She nodded. She was half afraid of him finding out this about her and half relieved that if he was thinking about the right thing, then she wouldn't have to blurt it out when she decided that it's time to tell him.

'After I got home yesterday, I… Madison clicked me on Facebook.' She was staring at him, feeling just a slight twitch of jealousy in her stomach.

'She was just typing out some random stuff. I didn't even pay her much attention until she wrote something about you. She probably wanted me to dump you or something, but I need you to know that no matter what, I'd never do that. I care too much about you.' Kate felt her heart flip over, her stomach following its lead and smiled, nodded at him, because he needed to know that she trusted him.

'She said that you… That you were schoolmates in primary school.' Kate nodded again.

'And then she said that in the ninth grade you had some troubles…' He trailed off, looking for any sign of recognition, any sign of truth on her face. All he could see was fear and pain flashing through her eyes though and she pulled slightly away from him, dropped her gaze.

'Yes,' she confirmed and he slowly exhaled, kissed her forehead.

'Is it true?' She closed her eyes and swallowed, gave him a nod.

'Oh, Kate.' He crushed her to him, both of his arms keeping her tight against him, his lips at her hair, murmuring her name over and over again. She felt tears prickling at the back of her eyes.

'It's just… It's over now. It ended by the end of the ninth grade, started in the summer before the ninth grade. But I… Sometimes I still think about it, you know. And I wasn't doing this to myself because of some stupid reason, like because I'd want to be a model or something? I just wanted to… I don't know, lose a few pounds. But I couldn't stop. I didn't eat. I pretended like I was eating, when in reality I threw everything away. I couldn't force myself to eat.' She had to swallow around the lump in her throat and felt him squeeze her, sliding his lips over her forehead, leaning his nose against her hairline.

'Everyone noticed the change in me. My parents, my schoolmates, everyone that walked past me on the street. My own clothes didn't fit me anymore. I felt so tired that I couldn't even walk upstairs to my room without feeling like I've just run a marathon. I was in a bad mood. I argued with my parents daily. Finally, in January, when they decided it was too much, they practically dragged me to the hospital and the doctor… She said that I… That if I realize that I could have been dead in two weeks if my parents hadn't brought me there.' Her voice broke on a sob and he felt moisture in his own eyes. One traitorous tear escaped her right eye and she didn't even bother wiping it away.

'My pulse was 32 instead of the normal 72. I was… I don't even know what – _who_ I was, because that wasn't me. It got worse before it got better. I remember that I came home one day from school and went into my room and it was 3.30 PM. Suddenly I felt dizzy and I blacked out before I could figure out what was even going on. The next thing I remember is waking up on the floor and the clock showing that it's 3.33 PM. I passed out. It was so… I was so scared, Rick.' He brushed over her hair with one of his hands and pushed a strand of her locks behind her ear, leaving him with a better look at her face.

'I had to start eating 5 meals a day. My parents made sure that I really ate, that I didn't throw away anything. It was exhausting, but I was making progress. I was healing, even if my mind hasn't really gotten around the fact that I had to stop hurting myself, that I had to eat, not starve. I gained some weight, finally. I didn't look like a skeleton anymore, thank God. I went to all these competitions in knowledge of Maths and Physics, History, Chemistry, Biology, English, French, I took every chance I got to keep myself busy with studying, so that I didn't have to think about food and my own traitorous body.' She sniffed and stopped for a moment, gathered her thoughts. He brushed a knuckle over her cheek and she continued quietly.

'At the same time, I had to train for a dance competition. It was already exhausting enough without my sickness, but with it, it was just so hard to keep on going. But I gave my best and I tried and I did it. I won the state dance championship and it felt so fantastic, so good that it made me think over the things I've been doing to myself these past few months.' She let out a slow breath, looked him in the eyes.

'Lanie was my schoolmate back then, too. She was there for me all the way, right by my side. I don't know what I'd do if it wasn't for her. I might have never even get over it if she wouldn't be there, supporting me. She helped to keep me alive. By the end of June, I was feeling so much better, but I still wouldn't eat if I wasn't under control. My parents and I went to a cruise then and that's where I realized that life is so beautiful and that I was throwing it away. I ate without someone telling me to do so for the first time in months and I felt a sense of relief wash over me. I was cured. I can honestly say that by the time we got back from the cruise, that I was cured. I was okay. Everything was okay again. I still had to eat 5 meals a day and take medications for a few months, but then I didn't have to anymore, because I started to do it alone, waking up for breakfast, always eating something throughout the day, even if it was just a chocolate bar or an orange or whatever. I was healed and okay and I put my past where it was supposed to be. Behind me.' Rick sighed and kissed her forehead.

'I don't really want to talk or think about it that much because it brings back bad memories from the darkest time of my life, but it's a part of it, you know. I'm self-conscious now and I believe in myself. This part of my life is something that I survived and now I'm stronger than ever.'

'I'm glad,' he murmured in her hair and brushed another kiss on her forehead.

'I'm so happy that you survived and I'm so proud of you. It must have been hard, but you were strong enough to fight it.' She felt a tear slip down her cheek as she pressed a kiss to his chin.

'God, you're so extraordinary.'

She lifted herself up and slowly kissed him, the feeling of his lips against hers so powerful that she had to take a deep, shuddering breath and pull away.

'Thank you, Kate. For telling me this. For sharing it with me. Thank you.' She smiled and cupped his jaw, her hand slipping around his neck, her mouth already on his.

'Now that we got over this, can I get something to drink?' He chuckled softly and nudged her nose with his, pressed another light kiss on her lips.

'Of course.' They stood up slowly and he tangled their fingers, pulled her in the kitchen with a soft smile on his face.

* * *

><p>'You know, my mother thinks that the aliens taught me how to make these sandwiches.' She almost choked on her bite of a delicious sandwich with mayo, ham and cheese.<p>

'What?'

'Jesus, breathe Kate.' She swallowed down the bite and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

'Your mother seriously thinks that?'

'Well, she did mention it the first time she tried one of these,' he said and waved his own sandwich in the air, then took a bite.

'She said that aliens taught you to make the sandwiches?' He shook his head, swallowed and leaned his elbows on the marble counter on the opposite side of her.

'It was more along the lines of 'Oh my, darling, this is delicious, if I didn't know better, I'd say that the aliens must have taught you how to make this'.' Kate let out a loud laugh and took a sip of her juice.

'Your mother can be really dramatic sometimes.'

'Tell me about it,' he muttered under his breath, bit into his sandwich with bright eyes.

'But she's okay, come on. You know how many moms I've met that are so much worse than yours?'

'Umm.. None?' Kate rolled her eyes and pointed out of the window with her index finger.

'Madison's mom, for instance.'

'You know Madison's mom?' He gave her a curious look.

'As a matter of fact, I do.'

'How, if I may ask?' She shrugged and emptied her glass.

'Madison and I… We were best friends since 1st grade up until she stole my boyfriend in 7th grade.'

'Best friends?' She nodded. 'You and Madison?' He got a poke in the chest for that.

'It happens. Believe it or not, she was different back then. Not such a slut as she is now.'

'I don't believe it.'

'Well, it's the truth.'

'And she stole your boyfriend?'

'Mhm.'

'How's that even possible?'

'Let's just say that that's when she got her reputation.' He blinked slowly and then nodded, understanding seeping in his brains.

'So, how did you and Lanie get together, then?' Kate finished her sandwich and swallowed.

'In the seventh grade. Lanie was my schoolmate, you already know that, but we didn't talk much until she came to me a day after Maddy stole Tim away from me. Apparently, Maddy was a boyfriend stealer. She stole Lanie's boyfriend, too.'

'So that's how you linked?'

'Exactly. We found out that we liked the same stuff and so on. We had a lot in common, plus we shared our hatress towards Madison.'

'That's awesome.' She laughed and stepped around the corner of the counter, wrapped her arms around his waist, looking at his mouth.

'I know, right? Maddy tried to steal my every boyfriend since then. She stole two more, but they were pigs either way.'

He leaned down to capture her lips, but was suddenly strucked with a thought.

'Wait, so _that's _why you were so upset about me and Madison going out. And her kissing me.'

'Umm, I hate to break it to you, Rick, but we weren't even dating at that point.' His eyes widened in realization.

'Oh my God, you've wanted me from the start, didn't you? Ever since I walked in that classroom.' Her cheeks felt as hot as the sun and she dropped her gaze, smoothed Rick's t-shirt, just below his neck, tilted her head slightly to the right.

'Maybe.' It came out more as a whisper than anything else, but he heard it and laughed. A full, hearty laugh, shaking his body against her.

'Oh, Kate.' She smiled.

'What?'

'You know, you had nothing to worry about.' He winked at her and tried to kiss her, but she leaned her head back, away from his lips.

'What do you mean?'

'Mmm, I've wanted you since I first saw you, too.' She was pretty ure that her face was now flushed, red as a potato and it was all she could do not to explode from happiness.

'Really?'

'Of course. I mean you're seriously the most beautiful girl, woman I've ever seen.' How was it possible that she hasn't melted yet? She really wondered.

'Thank you.'

'Always,' he whispered against her lips and finally kissed her. She could taste 'the alien food' in his mouth and she chuckled at the thought, felt him pull away with narrowed eyes.

'What? Do I have something on my face?' He ran both hands over his face, but she pulled them off and kissed his knuckles.

'Mmm, no. I just had a weird thought.'

'What was it about?'

'The alien food.'

'What? Are you feeling okay, Kate?' She laughed and leaned her forehead on his chest.

'No, silly. The sandwiches. I thought about the sandwiches as 'the alien food'.' She felt more than she heard him laugh and he pulled her chin up to look in her eyes.

'You have a good imagination.'

'So I've been told.'

'Mhm, I bet.'

He captured her lips, dragged his hands down her sides to grab her thighs and lift her up. She shrieked and chuckled, kissing his mouth again, her legs wrapping tightly around his waist. He walked slowly over to the couch, put her down and lied on top of her. One of his hands was in her hair, the other one gripping her hip, making her feel surrounded by him.

She broke the kiss when the need for air became too big and took a deep breath. He leaned his forehead on her collarbone, gasping hot breaths onto her flushed skin.

'I'll never get tired of doing this,' he breathed and slurred a kiss on her neck.

'Me neither.'

'Why do we even need to breathe?'

'Don't know. You're the air I breathe.' He grinned against her warm skin and lifted his head to look at her swollen lips.

'Sap.' She opened her eyes and flicked his head with one of her fingers still resting in his hair.

'I'm not a sap.'

'You are.'

'Not.'

'You're a big puddle of a romantic, sappy teenager.'

'Stop it,' she laughed and swatted his chest.

'Why? It's cute.' She pursed her lips and leveled him with a glare.

'Really?' she asked him sarcastically and he just rolled his eyes.

'You're also cute when you get angry.' She poked him in the chest and maintained her glare.

'Not when you get angry with me, though.' She laughed and pushed up on her elbows to claim his mouth, to slide her tongue over his lips, to pull away as he rushed back in for more, teasing him.

'You're hot.' She broke the kiss panting, realizing where his hand is and she blinked once, twice, before clearing her throat.

'Umm, thanks?' He let out a strangled laugh.

'No – I mean, yeah you're hot, really, really so hot, but I meant the other way. Aren't you warm? You're all red and your skin's really hot.' She smirked and pushed his hand away from her chest to try and sit up a bit.

'Yes, I am.' She took her cardigan off, all the while keeping her eyes on him, her upper body now left with only a soft white sleeveless shirt. She threw the piece of clothing over the arm of the couch, pulled him down to her mouth with her hands on his neck, her teeth scraping over his lips, biting into his tongue with every stroke, her own tongue running over the roof of his mouth.

'God Kate.' She pulled away slightly, kept her lips touching his, arched an eyebrow but in vain, seeing as his eyes were solely focused on her invitingly red lips.

'Rick?'

'I'm… You really have to stop doing those things to me.' She furrowed her brows and smirked.

'What do you mean?'

'I'm just glad that I don't have such tight pants on today.' A breathless laugh escaped her throat as she realized what he was talking about.

'You have a problem again?'

'Yeah,' he answered her and leaned his forehead on hers, dragged his hand away from her chest down her body, then tried to make himself more comfortable down there.

It was kind of funny actually, how quickly Kate could make him all hot and bothered. He never experienced that with any of his other girlfriends, although he wasn't in this position with any other girl before. Mostly because he never had any serious relationships. The longest relationhip he had lasted for about a month. But he was certain that it was gonna be different with Kate. She made him believe in love at first sight.

'You feeling better now?' He opened his eyes and placed his hand under her shirt on her abdomen, travelled up slowly, watching her. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation and amusement.

'I see you are, then.' He tucked a finger under her bra and smirked at her.

'I have a question for you.'

'Hmm?'

'How many boyfriends have you had in your entire life?' She looked at him suspiciously.

'Seven, you included. Why?'

'That's all?'

'Oh sorry if I'm not like Madison who jumps everyone she sees,' she said and he brought both of his hands hands up to stroke his fingers down her cheeks.

'No, no, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that… You're really beautiful and I know that half of the school has a crush on you, so I'm just… I don't know, I thought that you'd be more adventurous.' She snorted.

'It was enough adventure for me. 9th grade was dry anyway and I had one boyfriend in high school until now. Well, two if I count you. I dated only guys that I got to know before I dated them and all of the relationships lasted for at least a month. None of them lasted more than 4 months, though.'

'Oh.'

'How many girlfriends have you had?' His face dropped and he cleared his throat.

'Thirteen.'

'You do know that the ones from kindergarten don't count, right?'

'Yeah, it's… It's all been since the end of 8th grade.' Her eyes widened.

'What?'

'I haven't always been… This nice. I spent 9th grade partying all the time and had a lot of girlfriends, I think ten or something like that. But they all lasted only for a week or two. I thought I'd continue doing that when I got to high school, but my grandpa died and I suddenly realized that that wasn't me. I don't know. I just stopped flirting with every girl that I saw. I think that I became a party machine or something because my mom told me that we had to move to Long Beach and that crushed me. You know, leaving all this sweet life behind, all my friends. It was hard for me, so I guess I just decided to make the best of the last year. Then in the first year of high school that I spent in Long Beach, I had 3 girlfriends. I thought about every single one of them that they're really nice and pretty, but they were just trying to get into my pants. I know that I should be the one trying to get into _theirs, _but that's just how it was.'

'Girls used you?'

'Yeah,' he chuckled and dropped a kiss on Kate's lips.

'Then when I came here and I saw you, I immediately knew that you're different. I fell for you.' Her breath caught in her throat and she swallowed hard, waited until he'd realize what he's just said.

'I'm really glad we're doing this, you know. I feel different when I'm with you. I feel like I can be myself without pretending.' He brushed a lock of hair away from her forehead and exhaled slowly.

'You're really such a beautiful person.' Her heart leaped out of her chest and she leaned up, kissed him slowly.

'Thank you,' she said once they parted. He smiled at her and twirled a strand of her chestnut hair between his fingers.

'Where'd you learn to play the guitar?' She sighed, her mouth forming a soft smile.

'My dad.'

'He plays, too?'

'Mmm, yeah. When I was 10 years old, I saw him play for the first time. He said that he hasn't played in ages. I asked him if he could teach me. He'd do anything for me, so he did. I played all the time until I stopped about two years ago, because I…' She blinked back the tears.

'It's okay, Kate. You don't have to te-'

'-No, I want to.' She made a slight pause to take a deep breath, but it didn't help, so she took another one.

'I gave up on my music, Rick. Just like Kurt told your uncle not to. I threw it away. When I got sick, I just stopped playing. I stopped believing in magic. I don't know why I haven't played since then, though. I forgot how breath-taking it is. How magical.' She closed her eyes.

'So you believe in magic now?' Her lids lifted slowly, her lips caressing his. He's almost forgotten about what he asked her, when she whispered against his lips, the sound softer and lovelier and more beautiful than anything he's ever heard.

'You made me believe again.'

* * *

><p>'What are you doing in there?' She heard another thump from the other side of the door and a muffled curse fly from his mouth, making her try to hold back a laugh.<p>

'Seriously, what are you doing, Rick?'

The door opened suddenly and she saw him balancing his hand on a sink in only his boxers, touching his right knee.

'What did you do?' He hissed and removed his hand from his skin for her to take a look.

'I hit my knee.' She laughed and wrapped her fingers around his knee joint and brushed her thumb over the red spot where he probably hit himself.

'You'll survive.'

'It's gonna bruise!'

'So?'

'So, I'm gonna have a big blue bruise right there when it's still summer and I'm practically bound to wearing only shorts. It ruins your look, you know.' She glared at him and dropped his knee, put her hands on her hips.

'Really, Rick? You're gonna whine about a _little _bruise?' He smiled sheepishly at her and grabbed her wrists, gently pulling her into him.

'Well, it _did _hurt.' She rolled her eyes and ran her fingers over his chest.

'You're such a child.' His mouth fell open and he released one of her hips to put a hand over his heart.

'You hurt me, Katherine Beckett.'

'Really. Worse than a nine year-old on a sugar rush.' He lifted an eyebrow and kissed her, his hands cupping her bottom, pressing her close, his tongue joining hers in an electric dance of fire and passion.

He was slowly devouring her, sucking the life out of her, but she couldn't care less. It left a wonderful feeling somewhere deep in her body, like her soul was flying away with his.

He pulled back and dropped his hands, leaving her standing on her own, her hands gripping his sides. She swayed a little, her knees wobbling, completely dazed by the kiss. She sucked in a ragged breath. Her head was spinning, her heart dancing in her chest, her stomach doing somersaults, everything was out of order and everything felt so complete at the same time.

'What the…'

'You feeling okay?' he asked and stepped forward, cupped her jaw with both hands to take a look at her eyes. Her pupils were so dilated, her eyes so dark, that it seemed like they were completely black.

'You just…'

'There's my proof that I'm not a child.' She licked her lips slowly and dropped her gaze to his mouth, her fingers twitching against his skin.

He's never seen anything sexier in his life.

'Yeah. Yeah, I-I'm just… Gonna leave you to put some clothes on.' She turned and walked away from him, back to the living room where it was safe and Rick-less, to gather her thoughts and figure out what the hell has just happened back there and how the hell could a simple water fight lead to a make out session that left her completely breathless. She figured out that maybe it was all her fault, seeing as she deliberately splashed him all over his t-shirt and shorts, leaving wet patches all over his clothes, in hope that maybe she could see that amazing chest of his again.

* * *

><p>'What are you reading?' She jumped at the sound of his voice close to her ear and turned her head around, saw him standing behind her. She shrugged and looked back down at the book she was holding in her hands.<p>

'Don't know. Found it on the coffee table.' He pressed his chest into her back, wound his arms around her middle, resting his chin on her shoulder, hugging her.

'Mmm, Beautiful Creatures. I like that book.'

'Have you read it yet?'

'Yes. I've also read Beautiful Darkness and Beautiful Chaos.'

'So it's a series?'

'Yep. It's really good. You should read it, share your opinion with me maybe?' She grinned and nodded.

'I'll see what I can do.' He dropped a kiss on her cheek, then took the book out of her arms, put it back on the coffee table, pulled her with him to the couch. She pushed him down and lied on top of him, straddling his hips, her lips pulling his upper one in her mouth. She kept her hands on his stomach under his blue t-shirt.

Somewhere between the kiss when he was already feeling the heat low in his abdomen, he felt her hips move against his and he gasped into her mouth, heard her moan back as he ran both his hands back down over the skin of her back to grip her hips.

'Kate.' She broke the kiss, her breathing too shallow to be still considered as healthy.

'What?'

'You should really stop moving your hips.' She grinned at him and – just to tease him, really, nothing more – purposefully rocked her hips against his just once. His fingers tightened on her back, digging into her skin. She decided to look later if he left a bruise. He groaned and closed his eyes.

'You're crazy.'

'Mm, yeah? Why?'

'You really have no idea what you do to me, do you?' She just blinked, waiting for him to tell her. He didn't though, just pushed his hips hard against hers, making sure that she felt what she did to him. She swallowed and her eyes slipped shut.

'You – Do you get it now?' She nodded, a choked breath escaping her mouth, her eyes still closed.

'Yeah.'

* * *

><p>An hour later, they were in his room on his bed, the guitar lying forgotten on the floor. He separated his lips from hers and felt her heaving chest press against his, her lungs taking rapid breaths, filling with air, expanding almost to the point of impossible.<p>

Then again, nothing was really ever impossible with Kate.

'I have another question for you.'

'What's up with all these questions today?'

'Just… It's not really, you know, umm…' She groaned.

'Oh for God's sake just ask already.'

'Fine. Where'd you learn to play the piano?' Kate laughed and leaned up to press a quick kiss to his neck.

'That's your big question?'

'Hey, _you _complicated it, not me.' She huffed as he grinned at her, but smiled in the end, brushed her fingers over his cheek.

'My mom taught me.'

'So your dad taught you how to play the guitar and your mom taught you how to play the piano?' She nodded.

'I _did_ start to learn how to play the piano earlier than guitar, though. I was always daddy's little girl, so he was just a little jealous of my mom teaching me how to play an instrument. I think that's one of the reasons why he agreed to teach me how to play the guitar.' Rick's face was smiling, his eyes twinkling.

'My mom started to teach me when I was 7. I've never stopped playing. Not even in the 9th grade.'

'Why not?'

'It was just something that connected me with my mom. She was working almost all the time. From 7 AM until dinner. After that, we had a piano lesson and then she just went to sleep or talked with my dad. When I got sick, she didn't take that much cases anymore and she was home a lot more than the previous years. She still is, actually. I think that both of my parents are kind of afraid to leave me alone, to let me go.'

'Yeah well, you're their little girl.'

'Mhm. But the time will come when I'll move out of the house and start living my own life and then get married and have kids-'

'- With me.' She drew in a startled breath and saw that he was just smiling tenderly at her, his eyes serious.

He captured her lips in a short kiss and pulled back, said, 'I really don't know how, but I know that I want to have this with you. I do realize that we're only in high school, but I just feel like you're the one.'

'I'm…' Speechless. She was speechless. This wonderful, wonderful, beautiful boy.

'Too soon?' A short laugh bubbled up in her throat and she nodded, but pressed her lips to his just once, pulled back to look him in the eyes.

'Yes, but… This is crazy because we're only 16 and we practically don't know what we want, but I feel like I want to have a life with you, too.' His eyes lit up and he kissed her happily. 'You just made my day.' She wrapped a leg around his and chuckled in his mouth, pressed her fingertips to the spots just below his ears. He dropped her mouth and kissed her neck, her collarbone, her shoulder, before he lifted back up again and kissed her cheek, looked at her with loving eyes.

'You're so beautiful, Kate.'

* * *

><p>'Where are we going?'<p>

'You'll see.' He tugged on her hand to pull her closer to him and kissed her cheekbone quickly, before she could shoot him a glare.

'Rick.' She was really adorable when she was pouting, so he had no choice but to kiss her.

'Come on, Kate.'

The air seemed fresh from yesterday's storm and she found herself really enjoying taking a walk with him. She was breathing deeply and slowly, her lungs filling with oxygen over and over again. She had some doubts when he dragged her out of his apartment to take a walk, but as soon as he led her into the Grizzly Peak Park, the doubts just vanished. Some of them resurfaced though, when he said that he had to show her something.

'We're almost there. Come on, you're slower than my grandma,' he complained half-heartedly and pulled her off the path. She felt saw the beams of excitement in his eyes and his smile, figured out that he probably really couldn't wait until they got there. Wherever he was taking her.

'Can't you just tell me where we're going?'

'Oh I could, but I wouldn't do it justice. You have to see this for yourself. Now do you trust me or not?' She smiled and gave him a peck on the lips.

'Always.'

* * *

><p>It was really beautiful. The trees were covering almost every plot of ground and the sound of the water splashing in a small lake was just…<p>

Beautiful.

Intoxicating.

She was wondering how she's never heard of this place before.

'You like it?'

'Yeah, it's-It's wonderful, Rick.'

'I thought you might say that.' She turned away from the lake to look at his face. He was still a better sight than the nature, no matter how beautiful it was. She chuckled at the thought.

'What's so funny?'

'Mmm nothing,' she murmured against his cheek right before she kissed him, her hands gripping his hair.

'You're really enjoying this, aren't you?' he asked her breathless when she finally broke the kiss. He would have done it sooner, but he just couldn't. She was too intoxicating. More than the nature, that was a clear fact.

'Enjoying what?' A tiny smirk decorated her face as she tilted her head to her left, studying him.

'Enjoying the fact that you're more interesting than mother nature.' She had to laugh at that. It _did _cross her mind. The thought that he was kissing her rather passionately instead of looking at the small watterfall slipping over the rocks, that he was holding her instead of basking in the sight of the beautiful nature, the things that he came to do in the first place, she figured.

'Oh no. I'm really not.'

'Oh yes. You really are.'

'Why? What makes you think so?'

'Because you have background.' She gave him a curious look and tugged on his ear, encouraging him to continue.

'You have a past. You have feelings. You're extraordinary and beautiful and wonderful and everything good that a person can be. You're amazingly, terrifyingly breath-taking. But on top of all those things that mother nature kinda posseses too, you're here with me. You're mine and that's all I could ask for.' She didn't plan on crying today at all, but first, he had to ask her about her problem, then now. He _had _to make her cry with his speech.

'No, don't cry.' He let out a short laugh and hugged her. She sniffed and let her eyes rest against his t-shirt.

'I just wanted to tell you that you're more important to me than nature. Even if the world ended, all I'd want would be to just spend the last few moments with you.' She pinched him lightly and he winced, laughed in her hair, kissed her head.

'You're not exactly helping me to stop crying.' He inhaled her scent, mixed with the smell of trees and water and sun and hummed.

'Sorry.'

'Don't be.'

''Kay.'

After a minute she pulled away and left a short kiss on his lips before stepping out of his arms to answer her ringing phone.

'Hi, mom… I'm still with Rick… Okay… Yeah, don't worry… Mhm, see you. Love you too.' She pushed the phone back into her front pocket, then stood up on her toes to give him a chaste kiss on his lips.

'My mom said that I have to be home until dinner. Which is at 6. Which is in half an hour. You think you can give me a ride home?' He wrapped his arms around her and nodded, his nose brushing hers.

'Sure.'

They untangled their arms and mouths and tongues and walked back to his place, picked up her backpack and sat on the motorbike.

* * *

><p>She handed him her helmet and he put it under the seat, turned back around, licked his lips and slowly kissed her neck, travelled up to her ear and whispered, 'I'm gonna miss you so much. I <em>already <em>miss you.' She smiled and whispered back, 'I'm still here.'

'I know, but it's just been so nice having you near me for almost a whole day. It'll feel weird now, being stuck at home without you.' She returned his hug and they stayed that way for a little while, enjoying the close proximity before they had to deal with the absence.

'You'll survive,' she broke the silence after a minute and he whimpered.

'Not without you.' She chuckled and kissed his temple, ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

'You'll be okay. We see each other tomorrow morning.'

'I don't think I'm able to breathe if you're not with me. I don't think you're able to breathe, remember, sappy girlfriend?'

'Shut up,' she laughed and pulled his earlobe in her mouth.

'I have a sappy girlfriend and I like it,' he sang and she let out a loud laugh, pulled back her head to shut him up with a kiss.

They broke away with a smile and she curled her fingers around his, tugged him with her to the front door. Just as he was about to kiss her goodbye, the door opened and showed Johanna standing there.

'Oh hi, Johanna.'

'Hello Rick. How are you?'

'I'm great, you?'

'Pretty good myself. Has Kate behaved?' she asked him with a smirk on her face.

'Oh yes, she's been an angel,' he replied, looking at Kate with big, adoring blue eyes. Johanna smiled at the scene in front of her and decided to give them some time to say goodbye, before she remembered something.

'Rick, would you like to stay for dinner?' He seemed surprised, but it only lasted for a moment before he grinned at Kate's mom and shook his head.

'No, thanks. I have to be home by seven, my mom's coming home with my uncle who's visiting Berkeley, so I don't have time. Thank you for your offer, though.'

'Oh well, that's alright. Another time, then. I'll leave you two to say goodbye. Bye, Rick.'

'Goodbye.'

'Uncle visiting? Really?' Her eyes looked like she was hurt.

'What?'

'That's your excuse?' He frowned and squeezed her hands.

'It's not an excuse, Kate. I'd really love to have dinner with your family and spend a little more time with you, but my uncle Bill is really here. That's why my mom's been away all day. She went to pick him up at the airport and then they went sightseeing or something like that, I don't know.'

'Oh.' Now she felt stupid for thinking that he'd lie to her and her mother. She knew that he wasn't like that. Stupid, Kate.

'Yeah.'

'I'm sorry.' She needed to say it. To apologize to him for everything that she's done wrong already and for everything she will because she wasn't perfect and because she wasn't very good with relationships.

'For what?' His voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

'For doubting you? For thinking that you don't want to spend time with my family.' He pulled her in for a hug.

'Oh, Kate. Don't ever think that again. I promise that I'll stay for dinner some other time, okay?' She nodded and pressed a soft kiss to his neck, sighed.

'Okay.'

'Thank you again.'

'What for?'

'Everything. For letting me hold you when you cried, for telling me your secret, for letting me into your heart.' She smiled against his cheek, pulled her head back.

'Thank _you _for all that. For letting me be who I am. For not judging me.'

'I love who you are. You're perfect,' he murmured into her mouth, his lips catching hers, his teeth bringing her closer to him.

She broke the kiss and stepped away from him, her fingers catching in his, curling, letting go as they slowly walked apart.

'I'll see you tomorrow?' he yelled from the spot where he was putting on his helmet next to his motorbike and sat on it. She nodded, leaned against the door with her arms crossed.

'Of course, big guy,' she shouted back and he grinned before he dropped his shade and gave her a wave, rode off. A wide smile spread across her face as she walked inside, content.

**Your thoughts? **

**I'm sorry about all the crying, but I cried a bit, too. So I hope you're not mad at me for bringing up the emotional scenes. I guess I just needed it. **

**- Ariela**


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the delay, school's been awful. **

**Anyway I decided to move this story faster, so I skipped a week and a half, otherwise it'd take too long.**

**Thanks again for all your reviews and alerts and favorites. It means a lot. **

**Enjoy. (:**

**CHAPTER 10: WHEN I LOOK INTO YOUR EYES, IT'S LIKE WATCHING THE NIGHT SKY**

She yawned and stretched, pushed a stranded lock of hair behind her ear.

They were having a picnic at her uncle Tomas's house today and she invited Rick to come, too.

It's been almost two weeks since she told him about her problem and he still told her every day how happy he was that she's there with him. And her heart constricted every time.

'Kate!' she heard her mom's voice coming from downstairs, telling her that breakfast is ready, so Kate stood up and shuffled down to the dining room in her pajamas.

'Mornin'.' Her parents looked up and greeted her as Johanna put a plate full of toast and eggs and bacon in front of her. She dived into the food with a fork, noticed her parents watching her carefully.

'What?' They cleared their throats and turned away from her, shaking their heads. They've been acting this way for over a week now and they wouldn't tell her why. It was seriously starting to get on her nerves.

'Seriously guys, just tell me what's up.' Jim and Johanna nodded at her and smiled.

'It's just that we've noticed how different you've been these past two weeks,' Johanna started.

'And we have a pretty good idea about why you've been different,' Kate's dad added.

'Yeah? Enlighten me.' Now they were just being ridiculous. She was the same as always.

'We think it might have something to do with Rick.' Her eyes widened at her mother's statement as she almost choked on the food. Her dad passed her a glass of water and she quickly emptied it, drinking the cool liquid.

_Okaaaay. What's their point here? _

'Umm… What exactly are you trying to say?' Her mom rolled her eyes (it was pretty obvious where Kate got that from) and covered one of her hands lying on the table with her own.

'He makes you happy, doesn't he?' She blushed. Fiercely. Great. Now there was really no escaping.

She decided to tell the truth.

'Yes, he does. But, seriously what's your point?' Her dad shifted in his seat and rubbed his chin with a hand.

'Well, we uh…' He looked at his wife for help and she exhaled, opened her mouth to speak.

'We just wanted to remind you that if you and Rick got further from just kissing, that you have to be very careful and-'

'-Mom!'

'What?'

'Please tell me that we're not having _this_ talk right now,' she huffed and leaned her elbows on the table, put her head in her hands.

'This is so embarassing,' she mumbled and pushed back her hair, smiled at her parents.

'Katie?'

'Mom. Dad. I'm not 7 years old anymore. I know what to do once I have sex so there's really _no _need for you two to teach me about it. Okay?' Her parents' mouths were agape, foreheads scrunched up.

'Yes, but Kate-'

'-Really. Just… Let's just pretend that this conversation never happened, okay?'

'Fine,' her parents said in unison and she nodded, winked at them, concentrated on her breakfast again.

* * *

><p>Rick knocked on the door of Kate's house at 11 AM and then rode off with her family to uncle Tomas's place.<p>

Once they parked the car at the driveway along with some other cars, Kate took Rick's hand and pulled him out of the car, pecked him on the cheek and then led him to meet her family.

He first met her uncle Tomas. He was half-serbian, but born in America. He was Jim's brother and quite an interesting man.

Rick then met Kate's grandpa and grandma, Jim's father and mother, David and Lejla. Lejla was Serbian so he could hear an accent when she spoke, but it was rather sweet actually, like the lady herself. After he met Tomas's wife Nicole and their kids Luke and Kyle, 10-year-old twins, another car drove up to the house.

Before he knew what was happening, a little girl rushed into Kate's arms. Kate laughed and kissed the little girl's cheek, combed a few strands of hair behind her ear.

'Alex. It's been too long.' The little brunette nodded and threw her arms around Kate's neck.

Kate looked up at Rick and saw him smiling at her tenderly as he came closer and lifted an eyebrow.

'Alex, I want you to meet my boyfriend.' The girl turned in Kate's arms and grinned, offered a hand for Rick to shake.

'Hi, I'm Alex, Kate's cousin. I like ponies and music.' Rick and Kate both laughed and he stepped even closer, planted a hand on Kate's hip, the other still shaking Alex's hand.

'I'm Rick. I like music too. And writing. I like writing.'

'Really? Do you write fairytales?' Kate smirked as he chuckled and shook his head.

'No, I'm afraid not. Not anymore, anyway. But I could write one for you. I got an inspiration.' He winked at Alex and then flashed Kate a warm smile.

'Oh, is Kate your muse, then?' The teenagers both laughed again, Kate shaking her head as Rick nodded with a serious expression on his face, his eyes twinkling.

'Yes. But I don't think she's very fond of that word.' Kate glared at him and put Alex down, greeted Melissa, Alex's mom and Johanna's sister, and Joe, Melissa's husband. Another girl, approximately Kate and Rick's age, came to hug Kate and she introduced her to Rick as Nina, her 12-year-old cousin and Melissa's daughter.

* * *

><p>It was an hour later, when they were laughing over something Kate said about Rick and he pouted, but grinned then, nonetheless. She threw a wink in his direction, then pulled him up from the wooden table in the backyard, twined their fingers together.<p>

'We're gonna take a walk, guys. Be back in half an hour.' The group nodded and grinned, watched the pair walk away.

Melissa sighed and said, 'They look really good together.' Johanna smiled, nodded in affirmance. 'I know. Katie found the right one.'

* * *

><p>'Mmm… My parents tried to talk to me this morning,' she murmured against his lips, pulled back and saw his brows furrow in confusion. She cupped his cheek, pressed another feather-light kiss against his lips, leaned her forehead on his chin.<p>

'About what?' She hummed and curled her fingers around his in his lap, lifted her head, turned it so that she was looking at the little lake in front of her.

'About sex.' She heard him choke on his breath and she chuckled, looked at him sitting beside her very still.

'I – That's nice?' She laughed, squeezed his fingers, brought his knuckles to her lips for a brief second to kiss his hand.

'Not really. It was awkward, to say the least.'

'Really?' He got an eyeroll for that and he grinned.

'_Yes_. They started with how different I've been since the school started.'

'They did?'

'Yeah. And then they told me that they had a feeling it's because of you.'

'Oh?'

'Mhm. I had no idea where they were going with this, so I asked them and they stated that you make me happy and I said yes and then-'

'-You said yes?' he asked her, joy showing in his eyes, his fingers tightening around her own.

'Of course.' He let a grin stretch across his face, leaned in to capture her lips for a moment. She pulled away after a few seconds and bit her lip.

'Where was I?'

'You said that I make you happy.'

'Right.'

'You make me happy, too.' She tilted her head to the side, gave him a warm smile, dragged her fingertips over his palm and back to fill the spaces between his fingers.

'I'm glad.'

'Me too.'

She could swear that she felt her heart skip a beat and she blushed, looked away from him shyly.

'Anyway,' she focused on the main topic again, 'then they said that once we get further from kissing, that we have to be very careful and that's where I stopped them.'

'Aw, why'd you stop them? I'd hear them out, if I were you.' What?

'Okay, why exactly are you so keen on hearing what my parents think about us and sex?'

'I don't know. It's interesting that they obviously think about it while we haven't thought about that yet.' She just blinked at him and raised an eyebrow.

'Seriously, why is everyone so confusing today?'

'Ah, you want me to explain,' he stated, turned a bit more towards her, flashed her a cocky grin.

'Please do.'

'Well. Your parents obviously think that we're old enough to have sex, but that isn't even the main point.'

'What's the main point then?' He kept quiet for a second to take a dramatic breath of air, then spoke up, 'That they like us as a couple. Just think about it. They must know that you already know all about sex, yet they still tried to talk to you about it. Together. So they probably just wanted to remind you to be careful and to go slow, not rush into anything. I'm not rushing you either, by the way.'

'Umm… Thanks?' He laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her into him, kissed her temple.

'Yeah.'

* * *

><p>'Hey Kate.'<p>

'Alex, hi. Are you having fun?' Kate crouched down next to the sitting Alex and the twins who were currently arguing about football. The little brown-haired girl looked at Luke and Kyle and shrugged.

'Not really. They keep talking about sports.' Kate chuckled and pulled Alex up to her feet, grabbed her hand and led her inside the house to the kitchen, flashing a smile to Rick as they passed by.

She walked in the kitchen with Alex and opened the fridge.

'Just like I thought.'

'What?' Alex asked her and Kate smirked, pulled a cake out of the fridge. Alex's eyes lit up and they giggled, dragged their index fingers over the whipped cream and into their mouths.

After some time as they were talking about Alex's latest school adventures, Kate felt arms surrounding her middle. She looked back to see Rick smiling at Alex who was chuckling. He shifted his gaze to trap Kate's eyes on him and grinned at her.

'Well hello there, Rick.'

'Hi, beautiful.' She pulled his lower lip between her own and nudged his nose, her hands splaying over his on her sides.

'You guys are just so adorably gooey.' They pulled apart at the sound of Alex's cute voice and laughed as the little girl shuffled out of the house with pink cheeks.

'See, I told you that you were a sap.'

'Shut up.'

* * *

><p>Tomas, Jim and Joe were in charge of the fire and the meat while women (and David) were casually chatting and laughing.<p>

Kate and Rick came out of the house with their hands linked and sat down at the table, joined in on the conversation.

'Hi, guys. We were just sharing our childhood stories,' Melissa said and Kate's face lit up with a smile as she looked tenderly at her mom.

Rick has noticed that she cares about her a lot and he found it really sweet. But she got to enjoy being with her mom _and _her dad, whereas he had only his mother to teach him and play with him. They made it out alright, though. He was somehow glad that he only had his mother there for him all the time, because she raised a good guy. At least that's what Kate told him three days ago when they were wrapped around each other on her bed, while her parents were downstairs making dinner.

'I've never heard you talk that much about your childhood, mom,' Kate said and Johanna shrugged, her lips forming a wide smile.

'Well, you've never asked.' She winked at her daughter and Kate rolled her eyes, leaned a bit more into Rick's side.

'I'm asking you now.' Johanna nodded, searched her memory for something interesting.

'Oh, I have it. I was 16, like you are, and I went to a summer camp in South Carolina. The first day I was there, I fell into a small lake from the dock and I tried to swim back to the shore, but then there was this green canoe.' Kate's mom stopped for a second as if she was reliving old memories, nostalgia clearly evident in her eyes.

'There was a boy in there,' she continued, 'and he pulled me up in the canoe, gave me his jacket to keep me warm. He got me to the shore and told me his name was Jason. We spent a great week together, but after the camp was over, we never saw each other again.' Johanna stopped and took a sip of her drink.

'You have no idea how she was when she got back home. She was always talking about him,' Melissa said and then laughed as Johanna rolled her eyes.

'I'm sorry, sister. I thought you were supposed to support me in any way possible.' Kate and Rick laughed. Melissa kissed her sister's cheek and winked.

'Yeah, I _do _support you. I especially supported you when you met Jim.' Johanna looked over at her husband who was laughing with Tomas and smiled tenderly.

'Yes. He was the right decision.'

Kate sighed and leaned her head on Rick's shoulder, closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

* * *

><p>'Hey.' Kate turned around and couldn't help the smile that blossomed across her face. He always did that to her.<p>

'Hi,' she greeted back and pressed her palms into his back, inhaled his scent. He smelled like lemons and lavender, a strange combination, but she liked it.

'We're gonna play volleyball. You in?' She hummed and nodded against his neck, pulled back to kiss him.

'Sure.'

'Are you gonna be in my team?'

'We'll see about that.'

'Oh, come on,' he pouted and she laughed, gave him a peck on the lips, rubbed her hands down his spine, felt him take in a deep breath.

'Why, you afraid that I'd beat your ass?' He huffed at her and stepped back, took her hands, pulled her towards the sand.

He was a bit surprised when he found out that Tomas has sand and a net in the backyard for beach volleyball, but he didn't mind at all. It was awesome.

'No. You can't beat me.' She chuckled and pulled her hands out of his grasp, grabbed his face and gave him a short kiss, then pulled her hair up in a ponytail.

Rick stepped closer to her again and smiled, traced his fingers over the bare skin on her neck, felt her shiver under the touch.

'You look really good with a ponytail.'

'Thanks,' she laughed and went to her dad's team while Rick stayed on Tomas's.

* * *

><p>'We totally kicked your asses.'<p>

'No. We just had some… Technical problems.'

'Oh really?'

'Yes. And besides, this win means nothing.'

'It does for me.'

'Oh?'

'Yeah. I proved that you can't beat me, honey.'

The minute that the game was over, she knew that he was going to brag about winning. But it was kind of hot, actually. And he really wasn't bad at volleyball. In fact, if she had to admit, she'd say that he scored the most points for their team.

But she would never tell him that. It would be a dramatically big ego boost.

'Honey, huh?'

'What? Would you rather have me calling you sugar pie?'

'Oh, God no,' she said and scrunched up her nose, laughed with him as he grabbed her arms and kept her from running away from him.

'Maybe cupcake?'

'No.'

'Kittycat?'

'Nooooooo.'

'Babe?'

'Too common. You know, over-used.'

'Oh, so you want an original nickname,' he said with delight, pulled her closer, wrapped an arm around her waist.

'Do I have to have a nickname?' He gasped and shook his head.

'Now, now, Kate. You know that you _have _to have a nickname. I just gotta find the right one.'

''Kay, big guy. Whatever you say.'

'See? Even I have a nickname.' Kate rolled her eyes.

'Yeah but I didn't give it to you. Coach Cash did.'

'But you still use it. So I get to think of a nickname for you.' She shook her head in disbelief at his childishness.

'You're really such a kid.'

'Kate,' he groaned, made her lick her lips.

'What?'

'You remember what happened the last time you called me that, right?' She gulped, nodded, flicked her eyes to his lips.

'Yeah.'

Before she could say another word, he pulled her in for a toe-curling kiss that made her forget what they were talking about.

* * *

><p>'So?'<p>

'What?'

'Have you thought of a nickname for me yet?'

'Yes.'

She turned her head to him and popped a piece of brownie in her mouth, looked at him with big eyes. His eyes stranded down to her lips for a second, looked back in her eyes and saw her lift an eyebrow in question. He smirked and brushed his thumb over her lower lip when she stopped chewing, leaned in to kiss her lightly.

'Stop stalling and tell me my nickname, Rick.' He laughed, gave her a chaste kiss and leaned back, took a sip of his ice tea.

'Beautiful. Extraordinary. You deserve all these words.' She smiled and curled her fingers in his on the table.

'Thank you, but that's not really original, you know.' He opened his mouth in mock offense, closed his eyes and swallowed slowly.

'Now that hurt,' he said and she laughed as he smirked, jerked her knee against his under the table, pecked his cheek.

'I like it when you call me beautiful,' she whispered in his ear, squeezed his fingers, felt him smile against her lips.

'I know.'

* * *

><p>'It's getting dark.'<p>

'Yeah.'

'When are we going back?'

'Don't know. Dad said around 9, so we still have a good hour to spend,' Kate answered Rick and stepped through the door on the big balcony pulled him behind her and pushed him down onto a deckchair. He grinned and tugged on her hand. She slowly lowered herself onto him, her back against his front and lied there with him, her head over his collarbone, looking up at the sky.

'This is nice,' she heard him mumble into her hair and she nodded, let out a soft moan.

'Very nice.'

'How often does your family come up here?' he asked after a minute, felt her shrug.

'Don't know. Every two months or something like that. When we have time. Why?'

'It's just that it's so beautiful up here. Just… Perfect, you know?' She nodded, squeezed his hands on her abdomen, tangled their legs, sighed.

'If I wouldn't have to go to school, I would live here,' he continued, exhaled slowly.

'Yeah?'

'Yeah.'

'Alone?'

'No. I'd have _you_ by my side.'

'Mmm, I like the sound of that.' He chuckled softly against the crown of her head, dropped a kiss against her temple, squeezed her as she shivered.

'Me too.'

They continued watching the sky as the light faltered, transforming into dark, leaving only white spots to illuminate the Earth along with the moon.

'That's our star,' he said and pointed a finger up in the sky. She looked into the direction his finger was pointing at, but couldn't figure out which star he meant.

'You gotta be more specific than that. I don't know which star you're pointing at.' He chuckled and dropped his finger.

'That one right next to the tip of the highest tree that you can see.' She found the tree and saw which star he meant.

'Okay, I see it.' He laughed and kissed her cheekbone.

'Good. Now remember which one it is.'

'Oh, so you're letting me do all the work?'

'No. I already have it written down in my memory forever.' Kate bit her lip and turned her head towards him, leaned up to brush her lips against his, because she missed kissing him.

'Thank you.'

'For what?' She sighed and leaned her forehead against his jaw, took a deep breath.

'For being you,' she eventually murmured and felt him smile into her hair.

'I can't be anyone else when I'm with you.'

'Ditto.' She pulled her head back, looked at him with a tender smile on her face.

'Have I ever mentioned that I love your eyes?' That earned him a grin from Kate as she chuckled.

'No. I don't think so.'

'Well, I do love your eyes. They're beautiful. Just like you.'

'Mmm, really?'

'Yeah. As far as I'm concerned, you're perfect. You have no faults, no flaws, nothing but purity and perfection and you don't even have to fake it because you're so real.' She stared at him for a long moment and then her eyes fluttered closed when he kissed her.

'You always know what to say.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah.'

'So it works, then.'

'What does?'

'My writer brain.' She chuckled and nudged his foot with one of hers, cupped his jaw, pressed her lips to his.

'It does.'

* * *

><p>It was 9.12 PM when Kate's mom finally came up to the balcony to tell them that they're leaving. Kate and Rick stood up and went downstairs and outside the house, walked over to the others who were just saying goodbye.<p>

'Don't worry, we'll see you after the festival,' said Nicole at Johanna and Melissa and they nodded, hugs and kisses flying everywhere. Rick and Kate said goodbye to uncle Tomas and his family, then came to say goodbye to Melissa and Joe and their daughters.

'Katie,' Melissa said and hugged her, whispering something in her ear that made Kate blush and laugh.

'Thanks, Melissa. See you?'

'Of course, honey. Have fun.'

'You too.'

Melissa stepped around Kate as she said goodbye to Joe and Nina, walked towards Rick and hugged him too.

'You're a good guy, Rick. Take care of our girl, will you?' Rick smiled and nodded.

'Always.' Melissa stepped back and threw him a wink before walking to Johanna, hugging her tight.

Rick shuffled closer to Kate who had Alex in her arms.

'Be good, Alex. Don't cause too much trouble to your mommy, okay?'

'Okay, Katie.' Kate chuckled and kissed Alex's cheek, then let her down. The little girl grinned when she saw Rick crouching down in front of her and she wrapped her arms around his neck, hugged him.

'Bye, Rick.'

'Goodbye, Alex.'

'Will you write a fairytale for me, please?' He chuckled and dropped a kiss to Alex's hair.

'Sure. I'll see you.'

'Yes.' Alex kissed his cheek and ran away to the car where her mom was waiting for her. After Melissa and her family drove away, Rick and Kate said goodbye to Kate's grandparents and as Lejla hugged him, she mumbled something in Serbian, making him laugh.

'Sorry, could you repeat that, please?'

'Voli te.'

'I don't understand, sorry,' he laughed and leaned back to try and hear her better. She waved her hand, whispered to him in English, finally, making him understand what she was trying to tell him.

_She loves you. _

HERE COMES THE LINE. (:

'You're being awfully quiet.' He turned his head away from the window and looked at Kate as Jim was driving them back to the city. Rick shrugged and took her hand, knotted his fingers through hers.

'Just thinking.'

'About what?' He let out a breath, furrowed his brows and looked down at their hands.

'Just… Something your grandma said.'

'Okay, what did she tell you?' Kate asked, curious, and smirked, watched him smile back.

'I don't know if I can tell you. It was kind of a secret.' Kate's mouth popped open and before she could protest, he shut her up with a kiss.

'Don't worry, I'll tell you. Just… Not yet.' She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder, squeezed his fingers.

'Okay.'

* * *

><p>'Thank you for the invitation again, Johanna. I had a wonderful time.' Kate's mom smiled at Rick and pulled him in for a hug.<p>

'Anytime, Rick. You've been so good with Katie. Thank you.'

'Of course.'

They stepped back and said good night and after Rick said goodbye to Jim, he finally turned to Kate, let her escort him up to his apartment. He unlocked the door and stepped closer to Kate, cupped her cheeks, his lips feathering a light touch over her own.

'I'll see you?'

'Yeah,' she whispered and kissed him deeply, wrapped herself around him, just to feel him for a little longer.

They pulled apart for air and he tried to step away from her, but she wouldn't let go of him, _couldn't _let go of him.

'Don't go yet.' His lips curved into a soft smile and he pressed a kiss under her left eye, on her nose, on her lips.

'I have to.'

'I don't want you to,' she whimpered back and he sighed, ran a hand through her curly hair.

'I know.' She took one last deep breath filled with him and pulled away.

'Good night, Rick.' He stuffed a hand in his pocket, curled another over the doorknob to prevent himself from reaching out for her. He was having trouble keeping his hands to himself these last few days. He always needed to be touching her, even if it was only his foot pressed to her ankle in the middle of the class. Her touch kept him breathing.

'Until tomorrow, Kate.'

She took a step back and he opened his door, stepped into the apartment and closed the door with a smile on his face.

Now he truly believed in magic of words.

**I already know what I'm going to do with chapter 11 and 12, so as soon as I find time, I'll write them down, but I have to warn you that they'll be angsty, because we need some complications in this story. (: **

**Anyway, I just wanted to say two things:**

**1. I hate Andrew Marlowe a little bit for making us put up with so much angst on the show. But still, the man has an incredible imagination.**

**2. If anyone wants to know from which songs the titles for the chapters came, PM me. (: **

**Ariela**


	11. Chapter 11

I **am terribly sorry for not uploading this earlier. I know it's been more than a month, but I guess life just got in the way. **

**First, I hit a wall, because I was supposed to be writing angst and I couldn't and then there was _Always _and then I really wasn't capable of writing angst when our favorite duo finaly got together. So, I was pretty much blocked.**

**Then I had to do all this crazy stuff for school and I had to learn a lot and it was just madness, but now I finaly found free time to actually write and continue this story. **

**I hope the wait was worth it, because I'm seriously considering punishing myself with not allowing myself to eat ice cream for a month. And I really love ice cream. Like, really, _really _love it, so pretty please? Ease my mind? **

**Thank you.**

CHAPTER 11: HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT YOUR TRUTH IS BETTER THAN OURS

Lanie said goodbye to a friend she was talking with and started to walk down the street in search of her boyfriend. The moon was already shining brightly and the streetlights and every other člights of the festival were illuminating the hard concrete beneath her. She saw some faces that she recognized, but didn't stop to greet anybody. She just wanted to get back to her boyfriend as fast as possible.

Suddenly she stopped in the middle of the crowd gathered in front of the stage where a newly-discovered band was playing a rock song. Someone bumped into her and she walked closer to the couple in the back, who was kissing.

She knew that hair and those clothes and those hands . . .

The light shone directly into the guy's face and Lanie gasped.

It was - no, it couldn't be. He'd never -

But oh. It was definitely him.

_Javier._

She was angry and hurt and jealous. All of the emotions swirled in her stomach and she felt like she was going to throw up. She stalked forward and yanked him away from the girl.

'What the hell, Javi!'

'Who - Lanie?' he answered in confusion and swayed, almost fell to the ground but fortunately, Rick stepped in to rescue him.

'Wow, bro. You good?'

'He's drunk,' Lanie spat out in disgust.

'I don't know, Lane, I didn't see him drinking,' Kate said, but Lanie snorted.

'Look at him, Kate. We're over, Javier,' she told him and turned around on her heels. She couldn't hear neither Rick nor Kate calling out after her. She only felt the betrayal and hurt and sadness.

She really thought he loved her.

Well, one thing was for sure. She hated Berkeley festival.

* * *

><p>When Lanie woke up the next day, her head was aching and she felt exhausted. She immediately remembered what happened last night and groaned. She still couldn't believe that he did this to her. She honestly thought that they were going to last, but <em>obviously<em>, she was wrong.

A knock on the door distracted her from her thoughts and she scrambled out of the bed.

'What are you doing here?' she asked as she opened the door.

'I called you at least fifty times last night. And at least thirty this morning.'

'Yeah well, I wasn't available.'

'What? You have to tell me why you got so mad yesterday.'

'I thought you have already figured it out.'

'No. What's so wrong with Javi being drunk?'

'Everything, Kate. You didn't see what he did, did you?'

'Umm . . . no, what?' Lanie sighed and stepped back to let Kate in, then walked towards the couch. She ran a hand through her hair and blew out a frustrated breath.

'He cheated on me, Kate.' Kate's eyes widened and she took a step closer.

'What? No, Lanie, you know that he'd never do that to you. He loves you.' Lanie's eyes watered as she sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands.

'Apparently not,' she mumbled and then felt the cushion dip next to her.

'I'm sorry, Lanie. I - if he really did, I don't understand why. You two have been in love for so long, I don't know why he'd give up something that beautiful.' Kate put a hand on her friend's back and kissed her shoulder.

'We'll figure out what happened, okay? There's still a chance for you two to sort things out.' Lanie snorted and lifted her head up, looked at her worried friend.

'I dumped him, you forgot?'

'No, I haven't.'

'Look, whatever you think you can change, it's not gonna work, because I can't even think about him right now without . . .'

'Lanie?'

'I'm sorry, Kate. But there's nothing left to fix.'

* * *

><p>The sound of her hand slapping his chest echoed in the hallway.<p>

'What the - Kate?'

'Did you or did you not cheat on Lanie yesterday?' He gaped at her and rubbed the spot where she hit him.

'Are you kidding me? You know I'd never do that to her.'

'Well, you obviously did. If you didn't, you'd still be together, but you aren't.' He freezed his movements and furrowed his brows, stepped closer to her, but she took a step back.

She knew it was pointless, arguing with Javi in the doorway of his house, but she needed to fix them, because they would surely drive each other crazy. She had to do _something_. At least try to explain this, if nothing else.

'What do you mean? I don't recall Lanie dumping me and I'd never dump her either. So either you're a liar, which I know you're not or there's something I'm missing and I don't know what the hell even happened,' he bursted out in anger, obviously confused as to why he and Lanie wouldn't be together anymore.

'Have you texted her today yet? Or called her?' she asked him, crossing her arms on her chest.

'No, I haven't. We were supposed to meet for lunch anyway, so I figured maybe I'd give her some time to herself and - why the hell are you asking me this?'

'If you tried calling her now, she'd probably never answer.' He sighed and shut his eyes, clenched his jaw to stop himself from yelling at Kate.

'Can you just tell me why you had barged in here and hit me?'

Why she -

'Because you hurt her, dammit!' she yelled out in frustration and threw her hands in the air.

'I give up,' she whispered, hid her face in her hands.

'Kate, please. If you're being serious about this -'

'I _am _being serious! Can't you remember what you did yesterday?' He scrunched up his face, shook his head.

'No, I - actually I can't remember anything from yesterday evening.'

'Of course not. You were drunk.'

'I didn't drink anything!'

'Well, obviously you did, because at first you're fine and then Rick and I leave you alone for two hours and when we come back, you're drunk and Lanie's dumping you. Care to explain?' He was speechless. He really, r_eally _ couldn't remember anything, so he couldn't remember if he was drinking or not. But, he was 100% sure that he wouldn't drink; because of Lanie and because he doesn't like alcohol that much anyway.

'Kate, you know I don't drink. I swear to God, I didn't drink anything alcoholic. And seriously, that's why Lanie broke up with me? Because I was drunk?'

'Because you were kissing a blonde girl and it wasn't Lanie.' He gasped, leaned closer to Kate.

'Please tell me I didn't do that.' Kate sighed and closed her eyes, shook her head.

'I can't. I'm sorry.'

She opened her lids and looked at Javi. He seemed to be confused and angry; she suspected it was mostly with himself.

'This is all really weird.'

'What?'

'I remember a blonde girl talking to me and she asked me if I would like a drink and I said yes because I did want it and I was waiting for Lanie, and the girl looked like she was just trying to make friends. I swear I had never wanted anything else with her. I don't - I think maybe she slipped something in my drink or gave me the wrong one or . . . I don't know anymore.'

'Did she tell you her name?'

'Yeah. Yeah, she - she did.'

* * *

><p>'Kristina?'<p>

'Mmm.

'Is he sure that's her name?'

'He said that he's positive and I believe him and I think he really isn't guilty of this. I know he doesn't like drinking and he really would never cheat on Lanie. He loves her too much for that.'

'I hope they get back together.'

'Me too.'

'I can't believe they broke up,' he said suddenly. Kate pulled away from him and lied down on his bed.

'I know. Me neither.' She closed her eyes, then felt him beside her in an instant. The whole thing with Lanie and Javier had really affected everyone. She just hoped that what Javi had said to her is true and he really didn't drink willingly and kissed that blonde because he would want to. She talked with Lanie after she finished with Javi and told her the story, but she didn't really believe him. She _did _see him stumbling and kissing someone else and as much as she probably wanted to hope, maybe it was supposed to be this way. Maybe they weren't meant to be?

'Stop overthinking this, Kate.' She opened her eyes and found him staring down at her.

'It just doesn't make any sense. I mean - ' He shut her up with his lips as he kissed her gently. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed. She realized how lucky she was to have Rick as her boyfriend. He was sweet and caring and protective and -

'Kate?' She felt him move his lips to her ear, brush his hands over her stomach.

'Hmm?'

'You know I'd never cheat on you, right?' She moved her head and cupped his cheek to make him look at her. She swallowed as she saw the look on his face. So serious and worried.

'Rick, I -'

'Kate. You _know_, don't you?' She closed her eyes and sighed.

'I trust you, Rick. I really do. It's the other girls that I don't.' He nodded and she felt him press his lips to hers before he pulled away and leaned his forehead on hers.

'I don't trust the guys not to fall for you.' She smirked and nudged his nose with her own.

'Guys don't _fall _for me, Rick.' He lifted his head and looked at her, brushed his fingers over her cheeks.

'I did,' he said and her breath caught in her throat, her heart definitely skipping a beat. She leaned up to press herself against him, connected their lips and fingers and hearts.

* * *

><p>Javier had tried to call Lanie several times. He must had sent her thousand texts, but he received no response. He gave up on Sunday afternoon, but still, before he went to sleep, he sent her a text saying, <em>I love you. I always will. And I'm sorry.<em>

* * *

><p>It was Monday and 2 days have passed since Saturday when Javier kissed someone else who wasn't Lanie.<p>

To say that being in school together after that was awkward would be an understatement. Lanie and Javier kept avoiding each other, even if sometimes Javi tried to just grab her and kiss her. They didn't even want to look at each other, let alone _touch._ But still, everyone could see how miserable they were and they didn't want that for their friends.

The whole gang was going crazy because of the way they were acting. They both pretended like they're fine, like the breakup hadn't affected them, when they all knew how much they were hurting.

On Wednesday, they finally snapped. Lanie and Javier were arguing with each other (it was the first talk they had since Javi went to Lanie's house to try to convince her to take him back and she yelled at him that she hates him and that he has to leave her alone) and Kevin had enough.

'Shut up, both of you!' They stopped and looked at him.

'Kev? Bro?' Kevin leaned against the lockers and closed his eyes.

'Damn it, guys. Don't you see that by doing this to each other you're breaking us too?' Some of the people passing by looked strangely at him, but he didn't care. Lanie and Javier looked at each other and for a moment Kate thought she saw how much they were still in love. Until Lanie spoke up and crushed everyone's hopes.

'Yeah well, get used to it.' She slammed her locker shut and went to the cafeteria.

Kate squeezed Rick's hand and leaned up to kiss him.

'I gotta go after her, okay?' He nodded and hugged her. She pulled away reluctantly and smiled at Kevin and Javier, then ran after Lanie.

'You can be happy, man.' Rick turned around and looked at Javi.

'What?'

'Happy,' he said and nodded in the direction Kate disappeared to.

'You still have your girl,' he added and fisted his hands by his sides.

'You know Lanie loves you, right?'

'I don't know anything anymore.' They heard Jenny clear her throat and then she said goodbye to Kev and the boys, then went after Lanie and Kate.

'We have to find the girl,' Rick said and bit his lip.

'Are you kidding me? If Lanie sees me anywhere near her again, she's going to throttle me.'

'We have to try, Javi. Or would you rather spend all your life wondering 'if only'?'

* * *

><p>The last thing Javi needed was being responsible for this.<p>

When Rick had said they had to find the girl, he had a plan ready for everything, just not for this. And damn it, this was all his fault, if he didn't accept that drink in the first place, then . . . None of this would have happened, he and Lanie would still be together and Rick and Kate wouldn't be acting like this.

Like they're enemies instead of a couple. Like everything they had had meant nothing to either of them. Javi knew that they were just pretending and he knew that deep down both of them knew that they meant the world to each other.

But seriously. He would have never went with the plan if he knew that the girl did this every day, that she did this for fun. Then this would have never happened. Never.

* * *

><p>After Kate had found Rick all over some blonde-haired girl on Wednesday, she didn't even think of a possibility that it was all just to help Javi and Lanie. She didn't know about Rick's plan, which included Rick seducing the girl, trying to make her trick him into drinking one of 'her drinks' to catch her doing it, but he didn't realize that the girl was going to kiss him even before she got him drunk. She just saw Rick perfectly sober smiling against the girl's lips, clutching her hips.<p>

So when he felt himself being pulled back from the kiss and Lanie slapping him and he looked around because he knew what this was about, Kate was already gone.

She didn't dump him like Lanie had dumped Javier, because she couldn't. He meant so much to her and she . . .

_She loved him._

But she hated him at the same time for making her feel this way. For saying all those things to her, for making her fall in love with him, for promising her that he'd never cheat on her then doing just that, breaking her heart in process.

She went straight home from the festival and passed her parents with tear-streaked face, didn't even care enough to hide the tears from them. Johanna came up to her room after a few minutes and talked this through with her. She assured her that Rick was probably just trying to do something for Javi and Lanie and that maybe he didn't want to kiss that girl. But she couldn't believe that. No. She couldn't let herself hope.

She ignored all his calls and texts after that, shut off her phone, went to bed and didn't wake up until 10 AM next morning. It was school day, yes, but she couldn't take the chance of looking at him now when she was this fragile and that's why Johanna took a couple days off work to go with Kate to their family's cabin in the woods.

Rick came by in the middle of the day to check out on her and to talk, but she shut the door in his face.

'Kate, please, just listen to me, I -'

'Listen to you? How am I even supposed to trust anything you say, Rick?' She heard only silence for a second and then he erupted, like a sleeping volcano, unpredicted and scary and harsh.

'Because this, _we_, are more than two people, Kate! Because everything we've done together, everything we were, we _are_, is real to me and perfect and because it means everything!' She was gripping the door handle so hard her knuckles turned white and she could feel tears flowing down her cheeks.

'You cheated on me! You said you would never do that, but you did!'

'I didn't do it because I wanted to, I did it because I was trying to help!'

'Help who? Yourself?'

'Damn it, Kate! How can you say that your truth is better than ours?' She flattened her palm against the white door and closed her eyes.

'We're over, Rick. I'm sorry, but I . . . I can't -'

'Kate, don't do this, please. I love you, okay? I love you.' She swallowed down the sobs and the tears and cleared her throat. She loved him, too. But she had to stop.

'Don't. Just go away. Forget me. Forget about this. Forget about everything. Goodbye.' She turned and walked to her room, cried for hours, until her mom came back home from grocery shopping and cuddled up next to her, comforted her, hugged her until she fell asleep.

When they left for the cabin in the late afternoon, Rick was already gone.

* * *

><p>'I can't bring myself to hate him. I can't.'<p>

'Of course you can't, honey. You're in love with him.'

'But why is all this so hard? I always thought that when I'd fall in love it would be beautiful and perfect and _forever_.'

'Love is _supposed_ to be messy, Katie. If it's not, then it's not really love.'

'I guess so. I'm still disappointed over this.'

'I know. You'll be okay,' Johanna comforted her daughter and hugged her closer to her chest. The two were cuddling in front of the fireplace in the cabin, listening to sounds of the fire dancing.

The comfortable silence was interrupted by Kate's ringing phone. Kate stood up and shuffled over to her room, picked up her phone to see who was calling.

_Rick_.

She wanted so badly to answer the call, to greet him, to let a smile spread across her face. She wanted to be with him, to kiss him, hug him. They really were messy.

Urgh . . .

She tried to ignore the call but instead pressed the answer call button, which made her gasp. She tried to hang up, but the stupid phone wouldn't work and she stopped breathing when she heard his strangled voice on the speaker.

'_Kate_.' Her eyes filled with tears and she pressed a hand over her mouth to stop a choked sob that threatened to escape.

'Kate, _please_.' She didn't answer.

'I know you're there. I don't know why you picked up, but I know you're there. Please, just _please_, at least _talk _to me.' His voice broke at the end of the sentence and she heard a muffled cry. She didn't know if it was his or hers, but it sounded so painful, so chest-constricting that she wanted to just stop everything, tell him that she forgives him, run back into his arms and live happily ever after.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered, sniffled and she heard his sharp exhale of breath.

'God, I'm so sorry, Kate. I swear I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to help Javi and Lanie and Kristina just kissed me and I couldn't stop her, I wanted to, even if it would blow my cover but then I realized that that shouldn't happen so I had to make it seem believable and I wished so much that it were you who I was kissing, but she wasn't you. I'm so sorry,' he choked out and she heard him groan.

'I know you won't be able to forgive me and I know it's probably too late for fixing us, at least on your part, but I . . . I need to be with you to breathe. I can't even sleep, knowing that we broke up like this and this darkness is suffocating me. I _need _you, Kate. I'm so sorry.'

She was pressing a pillow to her face to muffle the sobs, but she was sure he had heard something because suddenly he gasped and she swallowed heavily.

'No, _please_. Don't cry because of me. I didn't even know if you were listening and I . . . I hope you realize how much I love you.'

That was it. That did it for her. She couldn't hold herself back anymore.

'_Rick_,' she cried out, pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead to dull the throb of the headache, shudders wracking her thin body.

'Please, beautiful. Don't cry because of me.' This was all too much for her. She felt like she was dying. Her head was spinning and the world around her was suddenly covered in black spots, filling her vision with darkness and cold.

'Kate,' he begged and it was the last thing she heard before her brains shut down and her body tumbled off the bed onto the ground.

**I don't know about the whole drinking stuff. Meh, I don't care. I had to think of something that would be plausible and I didn't have any better ideas and OH MY GOD, this has been a really hard chapter for me to write. But once I hit the keyboard, I just went with the flow. **

**And HEY, finally a chapter that isn't focused completely on Rick and Kate. Whew, that's a new one. **

**Like it? Hate it? Let me know. (:**

**- Ariela**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey! I actually made it! Well, um, yeah, so here's chapter 12 and I hope you'll like it and I really don't know what else to say other than thank you for sticking up with me and my story. I'm eternally grateful for your support. (:**

CHAPTER 12: I WON'T GIVE UP ON US, EVEN IF THE SKIES GET ROUGH

The first thing Kate became aware of as she woke up was a blinding light hanging above her head. She recognized it as a chandelier in the living room of the cabin. She grumbled under her breath when she tried to lay on her side and it hurt like hell. She tried lifting her t-shirt up, but just as she tried to grab the hem and lift it, her shoulder spiked with pain and she cursed loudly. Her lungs were struggling to catch a breath and her body was aching all over as if she fell off a cliff.

She thought she kind of did.

'Don't try to move, sweetie.' Her eyes slipped open at her mother's voice and she saw her leaning above her, her hand coming to touch her cheek.

'You blacked out and fell off the bed. You hit your whole left side and it's probably going to hurt for a while.' Kate's mom slowly lifted her daughter's t-shirt up and Kate saw the skin red from the impact.

'How long was I out?'

'About 15 minutes.' She nodded stifly and then remembered just why she had lost consciousness.

'Oh my God. Rick?' Her mom pursed her lips and cupped Kate's cheek.

'I talked to him.'

'Mom -'

'No, I had to tell him why he heard a loud thump and then not a sound anymore. He was scared as hell. He said he was so sorry for everything he made you went through. He apologized to me and told me that he'll rather leave you alone, because all he does is hurt you.' Kate swallowed the dry lump in her throat and closed her eyes.

'You have to talk to him sooner or later, Katie. Sooner would be preferable. He said that he'll probably have to move out of the city again because he isn't sure if he can see you almost every day and not have you.' Kate bit her lip to keep in the unshed tears, but one still slipped down her cheek.

'He loves you, sweetie. Maybe you two should talk things through.' Johanna gently curled one of her daughter's strands along her finger and brushed her thumb over Kate's temple, then kissed her cheek.

'Get some sleep. And think about it, okay?'

'Okay.'

* * *

><p>'He's not himself, Kate.'<p>

'Lanie, I can't -'

'The hell you can't. You know damn well that you're responsible for this as much as he is.' Kate gasped and narrowed her eyes, pressed her phone closer to her ear.

'Are you accusing me of being guilty of doing this to us? _He _cheated on _me_, Lanie.'

'But it's your fault as much as it is his. He was trying to help us all understand what the hell happened on Saturday! He tried to help _me_, Kate. Can't you see that he only did what he thought was the best for me and Javi?'

'But he tore _us _apart!'

'Stop making this about yourself!'

'I'm not making this about myself! I'm trying to tell you that I'm tired of everything!'

'What the hell are you talking about?'

'You didn't want to believe Javi either when he told you what happened and I don't want to believe Rick now, but I do and that's the whole damn problem.'

'Kate, you're confusing me.' She sighed and closed her eyes, leaned back against the headboard.

'I don't want to fight with anyone, Lanie. Especially not with you.' She heard a sigh at the other end of the line.

'Yeah, me neither.'

'I'm sorry for yelling at you.'

'It's fine, Kate. I understand you're upset, but you can't stay up at the cabin forever. Eventually you'll have to come back to Berkeley.'

'I know, I realize that. I just needed time off.'

'Are you okay?' Kate snorted sadly and she heard Lanie let out a grunt.

'I know, I know, stupid question. I'll see you on Monday?' Kate nodded, then realized Lanie couldn't see her.

'Yeah, Lanie. Say hi to everyone for me, will you?'

'Even Rick?'

'No, I have something planned. This . . . I just can't take it anymore.'

'So you're gonna fix this?'

'I'll try. Thank you, Lanie. It really means a lot to me.'

'You know I'd do anything for you, Kate.'

'I love you,' she whispered into the phone and heard Lanie sigh on the other end.

'I love you too, hun. Goodnight.'

'Night.'

Kate ended the call and placed her phone on the nightstand, then walked into the kitchen.

'You okay?' her mother asked her and she nodded, placed a kiss on her mother's cheek.

'I could be better, but I'm fine.'

'Have you decided what to do yet?'

'Yes. I need to be with him.' Johanna smiled and hugged her, ran a hand up and down her back.

'As long as you're happy, Katie.'

After a moment, Kate yawned and pulled back.

'I'm gonna go to sleep. And would you mind if we went back home tomorrow after lunch?'

'Of course not.'

'Okay then, goodnight.'

'Night sweetie.'

She hoped her plan was going to work because she had no idea what she'd do if she lost him.

_Rick_.

* * *

><p>Images were flashing in front of her eyes, the cabin was spinning around her, then it transformed into the school, then into a house, into a church, a hospital and before she could figure out what it all meant, she saw a much older her and a much older Rick kissing and then a little girl with bright blue eyes running towards them and smiling and <em>oh God<em>, what the hell -

Kate woke up suddenly and breathed heavily out into the cold air of her Berkeley bedroom. Her palms were sweaty, clammy against the purple sheets. She shut her eyes closed, groaned into her knees and straightened up. Her feet carried her towards the window and she sighed, burried her head in her hands.

She missed Rick. Missed his fingers on her cheeks, his lips on hers, the feeling of his body against hers.

_God_, she missed him.

She took a glance at the digital clock in her nightstand and bit her lip.

_05.07 AM. _

A little over twelve hours and she would have a chance to make things right again.

* * *

><p>'Are you sure this is going to work, Kate?' She spun around and shrugged, took Lanie's hand.<p>

'I have to try. He's still in lo . . . in love with me. And I'm in love with him. I _need_ to do this, Lanie.' Kate's friend sighed and squeezed her hand.

'Okay. Then let's do this.' She let go of Kate's hand and walked down the street, turned left and walked to the apartment building. She walked in and rode up with the elevator. As soon as she got to the door, it opened and Martha walked out.

'Hi, Miss Rodgers,' Lanie greeted and gave her a small smile. The redhead grinned and hugged her, pulled away with a swing in her step.

'Hello there, Lanie. It's nice to see you.'

'You too. Uhm, I was wondering if maybe Rick was home or . . .'

'No, he has a concert today in Bar Cantante. Didn't he tell you?' Lanie scrunched up her face and ran a hand through her head.

'Yeah, he did. But I thought he said he's not going.' Martha's smile visibly faltered and she stepped closer to Lanie.

'I don't think so. He told me just half an hour ago that he's going to go.'

'Okay then, um . . . I'm sorry, then. Have a nice day,' she said and waved, then ran down the stairs and the street to Kate who was waiting in the nearby café.

'What did he say?'

'He wasn't home,' Lanie sighed and sat down in the chair next to Kate's.

'What do you mean?'

'Martha was there.'

And?'

'She said that Rick went to his concert half an hour ago.'

'But you said that -'

'I know. Maybe he changed his mind?' Kate bit her lip, pushed the locks of her hair behind her ears.

'I know him, Lanie. I don't think he really went there.'

'Where do you think he is, then?'

* * *

><p>Kate took a deep breath and opened the door to the café. She immediately smelled the familiar aroma of the place, the mix of tea herbals and coffee beans. She took a careful step towards the bar and just as she was about to ask if Pietro was home, she saw Lena walking out the family room.<p>

The girl apparently noticed her too, because she stepped over to her to hug her.

'Kate,' she whispered in her ear. She squeezed her and Kate remembered that her side still hurt, but she didn't do anything because Lena was comforting her and it felt _good_.

'I'm really sorry,' Lena said quietly after she let go of her and brushed her thumb over her cheek.

'Rick told me what happened. Are you okay?'

'No,' Kate admitted, felt tears flooding her eyes.

'He really loves you, you know,' Lena stated, making Kate blush despite the situation they were in.

'I know.'

'Do you love him, too?'

_Yes. With all my heart. I love him. _

The only thing Kate could get out was a mix of a sob and a moan. She nodded instead of trying to talk.

'That's good. You should talk and not -'

'Is he here, Lena?'

'Yes. But I don't think now's the -'

'No, no, it's not - not that. I'm not gonna just burst in there and . . . He has a concertin an hour in Bar Cantante and he's apparently not going and I need him to go because that's the place where I can show him how much I love him back.'

Lena smiled and wrapped her arms around her again, kissed her cheek as she withdrawed.

'I'll make him go, I promise.' Kate nodded.

'Thank you, Lena. I'm going to make this work.'

* * *

><p>Lena stepped into the crowded room where all her family was gathered. Rick wasn't anywhere to be found, though. She searched the room for him, but couldn't find him.<p>

'Pietro, mi scusi. Dove é Ricardo?' The old man furrowed his grey brows and shrugged.

'He's out in the garden. What is going on?' Lena sighed and threw her arms around Pietro's neck.

'Grazie, nono.'

She broke away with a small smile and pressed a sweet kiss on his cheek. He just patted her shoulder and winked at her.

* * *

><p>'Why are you out here all alone?' He looked up from the red flower he was holding and found Lena staring back at him with concerned eyes. He looked away, shrugged and dropped the rose he was holding.<p>

'I don't know.'

'You can't be sad forever, Rick. There's still a chance for you two to fix this.' He snorted sadly and shook his head.

'She doesn't love me. Everything was in vain. How could I be so stupid and fall in love with her? I knew that she was going to break my heart, but I never thought it would hurt so much.'

'Why are you being so hard on yourself?' she asked him and sat down next to him on the bench.

'Because this it all my fault. I shouldn't have fell for her, I shouldn't have kissed Kristina and I shouldn't have called Kate. I only hurt her, nothing more.'

'You really don't know how much she's in love with you, right?' He swallowed and choked on his own saliva, burst into a coughing fit.

'She's _not_,' he replied after he calmed down.

'How can you know? Have you ever asked her?' He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on breathing. The problem was, he couldn't breathe without Kate. He _couldn't_, no matter what anyone said.

'No.'

'So?'

'So what?'

'You apparently have a concert today. In an hour or so.' He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face.

'Yeah, I know.'

'Aren't you going?' He shook his head sadly, looked at his hands, then shut them closed.

'You're giving up on music again, Rick.' His eyes snapped opened at Lena's statement. She curled a hand on his shoulder, nudged his knee with hers.

'You're like _mi fratello_, Ricardo. I don't want to see you hurt. When you came here with Kate for the first time and you weren't even together yet, I could see how much you meant to her and how much she meant to you. Those feelings have only grown throughout this month and I can understand that you're both stubborn and don't want to face each other, but is it really worth giving up on music?'

'No,' he answered honestly.

'You said it yourself that music is the place where you can escape to when life gives you lemons.' He smiled a little at that and nodded once.

'Yeah. Yeah, I did.'

'So go there and leave your troubles there. Play. You'll feel better.' He sighed, smiled at his friend, then drew her in for a hug.

'Thank you, Lena. Thank you.'

'Anytime, Rick. Now go, so you won't be late. Come on,' she said and pushed him towards the door.

She made him go. Now all Kate had to do was convince Rick that she loved him as much as he loved her.

She hoped they'll make it.

* * *

><p>The flashing lights and happy chatter of the crowd gathered in the bar was the first thing Kate noticed. She carefully weaved her way among people, ignoring some guys who whistled as she passed by.<p>

She found the sound tehnician and came to him with a tiny smile.

'Hello.'

'Hey there, how can I help?' he greeted back and she leaned closer to him.

'I need a favor. The guy who's about to have a concert is my boyfriend and I want to surprise him.'

'Sure, honey. What do you want me to do?'

* * *

><p>He could only hear his breath in his ears, the distant clatter of people's hands as they aplaused. He exhaled slowly, shut his eyes and sat down on the chair, the air hot against his cheeks. His hand wrapped themselves around the guitar on an impulse, his breath quickening, his brain shutting down, his heart speeding up.<p>

'This is for Kate,' he said quietly, focused on the sound of her name on his lips.

Then it all started.

His fingers slid and played a beautiful melody of soft tones and after a few moments, his voice joined them and he just fell into it, forgot about everything else.

1. Jason Mraz feat. Inara George - Be Honest

The first song he wanted to play at this concert and now he was here.

It was beautiful, the way he could play and forget about the problems he had. He couldn't get his mind off of Kate, though. Every love song was about her. Every single one.

He barely made out the sound of drums behind him. He vaguely remembered inviting one of his schoolmates Oscar to play with him. He had a really good beat. He was glad.

The song finished and he opened his eyes, the crowd in front of him cheering, aplausing, whistling. A few girls on the left made flirty eyes, but he looked away, scanned the room to see if she was there. It was to full to make out everyone's faces, though.

2. Civalias - Anything but You

The song went by fast, especially since the crowd was cheering all along and his voice flooded the bar.

3. Andrew Belle - In My Veins

Damn it. His eyes were pooling with tears and he wasn't going to cry here in front of everyone. He had to get a hold of himself.

4. Coldplay - Green Eyes

_Stop, Rick. Don't cry. _

He felt his voice shake, but he couldn't open his eyes to see if anyone noticed because then he would cry for sure.

5. Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up

He willed his eyes to stop watering, but the lyrics were so true and heartbreaking and . . .

_Kate. _

Her voice. That was _her _voice. What?

There. She was here. And she was singing. And . . .

_Oh_.

_Kate_.

He stopped playing for a second and Oscar stopped with him, wondered what the hell was going on. And then Kate started singing again and he joined in, his fingers imediately picking up where he left off.

_She's here._

He spotted a flurry of chestnut hair in the crowd and he knew that hair. He knew the girl who it belonged to.

Kate.

Suddenly, her voice got stronger and she came into the view, the crowd literally splitting up to let her through to the stage. She was walking really slow, her blurry eyes on him, on hand holding the microphone, the other one placed softly over her heart.

The sight of her broke him and he barely kept playing the black acoustic guitar, barely kept his voice even.

His hands were shaking and his breathing was uneven.

What was she even doing here?

Right before the song stopped and the music died down, she came to stand on the edge of the stage.

It was silent for a moment, only their irregular breathing heard and then the room bursted into aplause, whistling, the girls rolling their eyes at the romance they just witnessed.

He looked away from Kate to the crowd in front of him and leaned into the microphone.

'Thank you,' he breathed and then stood up, looked back to where Kate was standing . . . just a few seconds ago.

Where did she go?

He hurried off the stage, pushed the guitar into Oscar's hands, struggled to find a way through the crowd.

The only thing on his mind was Kate.

He exited the bar, pushed the doors to run out of the suffocating space. He breathed in the chilly air of Berkeley and frantically looked around himself to find her.

He had to find her.

He ran a hand through his hair and his eyes focused on a dark figure moving away from him down the street.

It had to be her.

He ran after her, his feet hitting the hard pavement, the sounds echoing in his head. She stopped suddenly and he came closer to her, stopped a few feet away from her.

'Kate,' he said, took a step closer. She turned around and he saw tears running down her cheeks, her lips pressed together in a thin line to prevent herself from crying even more. She looked hurt and sad and desperate and something else that he was afraid to name and the streetlights, the sunset was hitting her face just right and she looked _beautiful. _

'Kate,' he breathed again, took another step towards her.

'Rick,' he heard her exhale and the next thing he knew was her arms around his neck and her lips on his. He took her kiss, bathed in it, in the light it woke in his dying heart, held her closer, cradled her against him carefully. She tasted like tears and fear and most importantly, _love_.

She broke away with a whimper as a sob escaped her lips and she couldn't hold herself back anymore. She just curled her hands into his sweatshirt and cried, her face buried in the crook of his neck.

He reveled in her proximity, the harsh breaths escaping her throat, her lips pressed to the junction of his shoulder and his neck, her eyelashes brushing the fabric of the sweatshirt.

And he cried, too.

She pulled her head back, brushed her lips over his chin, pressed her forehead to his.

'I'm so sorry, Rick. I'm so sorry.' He shook his head, swallowed heavily.

'No, _I'm _sorry. So sorry, Kate.' She leaned up on her toes, pressed her body flush with his, her mouth descending over his with a sudden force, needing to feel him.

'Rick,' she moaned and he broke the kiss, panting.

'Yeah?' She took a deep breath and prepared herself for this. She was finally saying it.

'I love you too. I love you,' she finally confessed, stroked her fingers over his jaw. His eyes sparkled in the dark, a bright smile illuminating his face and she gave him one of her own in return, closed her eyes and gave him a chaste kiss.

'I love you,' she whispered again and then he laughed, pure joy and happiness spilling from his mouth, spinned her around in the air. She squeaked, laughed with him, his breath in her ear. He let her down, set her on her feet, still wrapped around her, cupped her cheeks with his hands.

With a bright look in his eyes, a smile on his face, he told her, 'I love you, Kate.' She blushed fiercely, moaned and kissed him tenderly.

She nodded, her thumbs under his ears, her hands in his hair, holding him close to her.

'I love you,' she whispered back in confirmation, chuckled and touched her beautiful radiant smile to his own.

They were back.

**I would appreciate your thoughts. (:**

**I already have a few chapter planned ahead! I keep getting these amazing ideas to use in this story, so I think there'll be plenty more to come. **

**Hope you liked it. **

**- Ariela**


	13. Chapter 13

**I know, I am pure evil. I do realize I haven't uploaded this story in more than a month, but it was kind of a rocky time for me. Uhm, this is short for my standards and not my best work, although I like some of the moments in here. I originally plannes for this whole chapter to be about the ocean and so on, because I got inspired, but then I hit a wall and couldn't get past it, so I had to move them and then I just kind of went with the flow. **

**Anyways, I hope you guys liked it and that it was worth the wait. Enjoy.**

**CHAPTER 13: THE LONE NEON NIGHTS AND THE ACHE OF THE OCEAN AND THE FIRE THAT WAS STARTING TO SPARK**

With stars shining above their heads and the gentle breeze from the ocean, the sturdy rocks beneath their feet they awkwardly tried to crawl, Kate felt carefree and happy and smiling. She wanted so much to stay in these moments forever. Her hand in his, his arm lightly wrapped around her waist, laughing at themselves.

She loved him.

So much.

And now she could finally say it without fear.

'I love you,' she whispered suddenly, as if the words couldn't stay in her mind, like she had to say them out loud. Rick stopped in the middle of a big rock, turned to her and looked at her with big, bright eyes, just . . . beautiful.

In a split second she could feel his lips on hers, smiling, so happy.

'I love you too, Kate,' he murmured, ran his fingers down her uplifted cheeks, lifted shiny blue eyes to hers.

'You're so beautiful,' he said and it made her stomach flutter, little pangs of delicious awe, love, rolling through her entire body.

'You too,' she whispered back, touched her lips to his, her fingers digging into his lower back.

'Did you just confess that I'm beautiful?' She chuckled at his grinning face and shook her head .

'Don't want to stroke your ego more than neccessary, darling,' she laughed, pressed her lips to the column of his throat, soft skin under soft lips, such a wonderful, wonderful feeling. She couldn't get enough of it.

'Kate?'

'Hmm?'

'We have to keep going if we even want to make the party, you know?'

'Yeah.'

'But maybe we can continue this when we arrive to our destination?' She snorted and pushed him back, caught his fingers with hers.

'Why do you even have to ask?'

* * *

><p>The warm buzz of the fire lighting the part of the shore, cold sand beneath their feet and the chatter of teenagers were surrounding them. They had walked right in the biggest crowd of people over at the rocks. Some of them were <em>night<em>bathing in their swim trunks and bikinis, drinking beer, pretending they're older than they really were.

Rick gently pulled Kate with him to the fire that was burning in the middle of the rocky seashore, surrounded by their friends and some other people from Berkeley. They sat down next to them on the sand and Jenny handed them a blanket to cover themselves up, since it was already chilly out, especially at this time of the day/night. Rick wrapped the blanket around their shoulders as Kate leaned her head in the crook of his neck and then he kissed the top of her head affectionately. He liked snuggling with Kate. She was just one of those people that radiate warmth and love.

'Where've you guys been? We were wondering if you're even coming.'

'Oh, just got a little… caught up, you know,' Rick answered Kevin's question and glanced down at Kate who was smirking.

'Yeah, I bet.' Rick punched Javi in the arm for that and rolled his eyes.

'You talk for yourself Javier Esposito,' Kate chided him and tucked herself even closer to Rick.

'What, me? Nah, I am innocent here.'

'Yeah, right. Like that time when you were caught making out with what-was-her-name under the gym stairs. You were innocent then, too,' Kevin said sarcastically and Javi's face went beef-red.

'Man, come one, that's not fair. And plus, her name was Lisa.'

'And why are we talking about Lisa now?' Lanie questioned her boyfriend and he visibly shrinked under her gaze.

'Baby, you know you're the only one for me.'

'Mhm, I better be,' she said and then squealed as he kissed her. The gang laughed and they continued talking, sharing stories and laughs and memories.

* * *

><p>It was an hour and a half later, that they decided to leave. They had agreed to spend the night at Kate's backyard in tents, camping. Well, kind of camping.<p>

'Wait, are we even going to be able to _fit _in there?' Kate crawled out of the red-blue tent and looked up at Jenny, then shrugged. A big grin made its way across her face as she exclaimed, 'I guess we'll just have to squeeze a little bit.' She laughed out loud at Javi's groan and tugged at Rick's hand to pull him down next to her.

'Don't worry, Javier, this tent is made for six people. No need to be act so disgusted with the prospect of _cuddling_, with _your own girlfriend_.'

'Man, I don't have troubles cuddling with my chica, but I have problems cuddling with these two,' he told her and pointed at Kevin and Rick, who were both grinning widely at their friend.

'Well, maybe you'll get lucky and you'll get stuck between two girls.'

'Oh hell no, Kate. He's stuck between the wall and me, no other girl,' Lanie suddenly jumped in and everyone but her and Javi laughed at her antics.

'I agree with Lanie. I'd rather be cuddling the wall than Kevin Ryan's back.' Again, they all erupted in laughter and it took Johanna coming down to the yard to tell them to be more quiet until they finally shut up and whispered instead of laughed at every single thing.

* * *

><p>'Who's next?'<p>

'I think it's Rick.'

'It's not me, it's Kate.'

'What is wrong with you, it was my turn two turns ago.'

'Sorry.'

'Guys, can someone please turn on some light or something.'

'I have my phone here.'

'No, you don't, dummy. You left it upstairs.'

'What? I take my iPhone everywhere I go, thank you very much. Let me just…'

'What's wrong?'

'It's not here.'

'Told you.'

'Oh God, you're all a bunch of children. Here,' Javi said and finally pulled his phone out and pressed the flashlight app.

'_Thank _you, Javier. Now, can we continue this game or not?' Lanie said and all of the heads in the tent nodded.

'It's Rick's turn.'

'Not my turn, Kev.'

'But you're the only one who hasn't answered like, what was the number, 5 questions or something like that.'

'What? No, I've answered five of them.'

'No, you didn't,' Kate said and slapped his hand away from her upper thigh. He turned to her with a dark glimmer in his eyes and winked, grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers.

'Okay, then it's my turn,' he exclaimed with a lower voice than usual and leaned down to press a kiss to Kate's forehead.

'So, Rick…You get this: Do you have a to-do-list and if you do, name at least five things that are on it,' Lanie read from the small card she pulled out of the box. Rick stared up at the tent's 'ceiling' and hummed.

'I don't know. I don't really have a to-do-list. I mean, I know what I want in life, but I've never written anything down on paper or something.'

'Well, can you at least tell us one of those things? If it's not too kinky, of course,' Javi probed and Rick grinned at him, raised his hand towards him in a feed-the-birds gesture.

'Okay well…One of my dreams is to become a writer. Of which genre, I am not entirely sure yet. Something I've always wanted is getting married and have children. But not just with anybody…With the person I love,' he said and looked at Kate at the end of his sentence.

'That's really sweet,' Jenny interrupted their moment and Kevin cleared his throat suspiciously.

'Yeah, okay, who's next?'

'It should be Kate.'

'But she was next three turns ago.'

'Something got messed up.'

'It's okay guys, I can answer again,' Kate offered, anything to get them to shut up right about now. She nuzzled her nose into Rick's forearm and clutched his hand tighter, looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes and bit her lip as she ran her foot up Rick's calf. He visibly shuddered, and she didn't even care if Kevin at the other side could feel it or not. She tried her best to hold back her smirk, but it didn't quite work. He noticed and narrowed his eyes at her, leaned in impossibly close.

'Be careful, honey. I can do payback, you know,' he whispered seductively into her ear and she strained against the weight of his body, just wanting to get closer to him. He apparently noticed and in a matter of seconds, she was curling her back into his front, both lying on their sides.

'If you guys are done being cute, we have a card for you, Kate,' Lanie said with an arched brow and Kate rolled her eyes, squeezed Rick's hands on her abdomen. Somehow, she landed from her space next to the tent's wall into the space between Rick and Kevin. Well, now she would at least be warm?

'Okay, Kate,' Lanie started with a devilish smile crossing her features, 'describe three things your partner is best in.'

'I'm guessing by partner you mean Rick.'

'You've guessed correctly, sweetie. Spill.' Kate sighed and looked back at Rick, snuggled closer to him.

'Well, he's really great at writing, telling stories. He gives amazing massages. He sings and plays the guitar amazingly good. He has these really soft hands and really, really sweet lips, I could kiss him for hours and not get enough.'

'Okay, too much information,' Javier piped in, but Kate continued as though she hadn't even heard him. Rick was watching her back with wide eyes, realizing that Kate was stroking his ego and giving him compliments.

'He's really caring and friendly. He's smart and loyal and honest. He loves me and I love him. And I wouldn't trade it for the world,' she said, then leaned up and pressed her lips softly against her boyfriend's, making Lanie and Jenny let out squeakes and the boys grumble.

Their lips slowly parted as they laughed at their friends and Kate pecked Rick's cheek, whispered her declaration of love against his jaw.

'Okay guys, if you're done being adorable, we could maybe continue this?'

'Sorry.'

* * *

><p>'Rick?' She shook his shoulder again, a little hard with the way he was holding her against him.<p>

'Rick!' He stirred and opened his eyes slowly, pressed her even closer to him.

'Can you wake me later?'

'No, come one, wake up.' He groaned and she leaned down to kiss him.

'What was that for?'

'Don't be so loud, the others are still asleep.'

'Why are _we _awake, then?'

'Because I need to show you something,' she said and slowly started to crawl out of the tent.

'Why are we going outside?' he asked her and she turned back around to see him on his knees behind her.

'Not that I mind the view, of course,' he whispered and waggled his eyebrows. Kate rolled her eyes and finally stood up, extended a hand to help her boyfriend up, too.

'Stop staring and come on.'

'Where are we going?'

'A few meters away from here,' she said, amused, and intertwined their fingers. She led him away from the tent and their sleeping friends, towards a big tree near the white fence. She stopped suddenly and grabed a shovel, then before he knew it, she had dug out a hole and was pulling a little brown box out of it.

'Wow, what's this?' She grinned at him and looked back down at the box with a nostalgic smile on her face. He prepared himself for a story; at least he hoped he'd get one. He desperately wanted to know everything about Kate Beckett, every single corner of her glorious mind.

'When I was 10,' she started softly, whispering so to not wake the others, 'I collected everything that had meant something to me and put it in this box, promising to myself that once I'd find someone who'll mean so much to me, I'd show him this and explain why I am who I am.' Rick couldn't help himself, so he stepped closer to her and cupped her cheek to make her look at him, before he lowered his lips to hers. She sighed in their kiss and wrapped one of her arms around his waist, her slender fingers curling in his Green Lantern t-shirt.

'Kate,' he whispered and she hummed against his mouth, let her tongue touch his lower lip and opened her eyes to see his own darkened ones.

She was this beautiful creature, she couldn't be real with the way she always melted against him, the way she always looked at him and smiled and…He really thought that he'd found a siren, a girl so beautiful and enchanting she could lure him into the depths of her oceans with a flick of her finger, or rather, tongue. Just because he knew sirens didn't exist, it didn't stop him from leaning in carefully, capturing her mouth as well as her whole body, swallowing her whole, pressing her into him. The only sounds audible in the autumn air were their sighs and moans and pops of when their lips separated. They were doing this awfully beautiful dance, hunting each other, letting go, then seeking again and it made him feel so small, like she was everything and he was such a poor excuse for a boy and how could he even deserve her? He was quite certain that she deserved better, she deserved the best and he was desperate to give it to her.

He let her lips go and breathed heavily with his forehead pressed against hers.

'What was that for?' she breathed, unconsciously repeating his words from mere minutes ago.

'For everything. God, Kate,' he mumbled and nibbled on her upper lip before releasing it and pressing his lips to her temple.

'For being so beautiful. For being you. God, you don't realize how special you are. No one can compare to you, Kate. No one. Not a single person, I swear,' he said, his words seeping through her skin. He pulled back when she sniffled and he let out a choked laugh when he saw the tears streaming down her cheeks.

'No, Kate, God. Please don't cry, come on,' he begged, remembering that one time when he called her up at the cabin and she passed out from not getting enough air into her lungs.

'No, it's – I'm not…It's happiness, Rick. It's happiness,' she explained it to him and buried her face in his chest as she heard his ragged exhale on the top of her head.

'I love you,' he murmured and she shut her eyes closed, new tears threatening to spill.

'Love you too.'

* * *

><p>'So what's this?'<p>

'It's a globe, Rick,' she said in amusement and watched as he flicked the keychain curiously.

'Does it bounce?'

'No, you saw for yourself when you flicked it.'

'Aww, there's no fun if it doesn't bounce,' he pouted and she rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour.

'Give me that,' she said and took the globe away from him.

'What does it represent to you?' he asked, suddenly serious, and she smiled.

'Everything I've always wanted. To go out exploring, travelling. I wanted to see the world, feel the breeze on my face, meet new people and have a good time. I wanted to travel.' Rick couldn't stop himself from smiling at the expression on her face.

'I've always wanted that, too,' he told her, then gazed down at the opened box on the blanket, which they had retrieved a few minutes earlier from the tent. He took out something that looked a lot like a white piano key.

'Is that…'

'Yeah,' she said.

'What is a piano key doing in here?' he asked curiously.

'It's broken.' He furrowed his brows and the smirk left his face as he looked closely at the key. A thin black line on the white plastic indicated the plastic had been broken.

'I didn't see that.'

'Yeah,' she said, then gently drew her finger over the line.

'It represents the three things; music, which I can't live without, how people can easily break, and how things are never as they seem, because people often miss their true meaning.' He gaped at her and swallowed.

'Wow, you were really smart.'

'Are you saying I'm not anymore?'

'Yeah. Because now you're even smarter.' She snorted and leaned forward to kiss his jaw.

'Thanks, I guess.'

'What's next?' She exhaled and searched the box.

'This,' she said and pulled a pink hat out. She laughed suddenly and he instinctly leaned closer, just to be closer to her when she's laughing like that, so open and intimate.

'What?' he asked her, a gentle smile radiating off his face.

'This is the first hat my mom has sever made for me.'

'First? Are you saying there are more pink, fluffy, rosy hats hiding somewhere in your closet?' She rolled her eyes at that and punched hi sarm playfully.

'No. Others aren't pink, I've gotten over my girly stage by the second time my mom was in the mood to knit. She did knit me this amazing grey cardigan once, though. I think I was 13 back then. I wonder where it is now.'

'We could always go peruse your closet and drawers,' he offered with a sly smile and she threw the hat in his face, huffed.

'You're incorrigible.'

'Oh, you love me.'

'Yes,' she whispered and he squeezed her thigh gently, circled his fingers around her knee.

'This is my favorite thing in this box.'

'What is it?'

'My mom's old book with quotes and poems. Everything beautiful is in here. Everything that has ever gotten my attention is in here. I've stuck pictures between these pages, wrote passages from my favorite books on the blank spaces.'

'That's beautiful.'

'I thought you might think so, with your fascination with literature and all.' He grinned and winked at her.

'You, Katherine Beckett, know me well.'

'I know.'

* * *

><p>She woke with Rick's voice murmuring into her ear, his hands caressing her sides under the blanket.<p>

'Kate.'

'What. I'm sleepy.' He laughed, rich and throaty and she had to fight the urge to reach up and tug his head up to her mouth to kiss him like she wanted to.

'Come on, your mom says breakfast is ready.' She huffed and opened her eyes, blinked a few times to adjust to the light.

'Good morning,' he said and pecked her cheek, pulled her up to him in a hug.

'Morning,' she mumbled back, still half-asleep.

'Kate. The breakfast,' he said after a minute when she had almost fallen asleep on his shoulder. They disentangled their bodies and instead twined their fingers as they went into the kitchen to eat.

* * *

><p>'Do you kids have everything you need?' Johanna asked as the teenagers delved into their food.<p>

'Yeah!'

She heard a ringing of a phone down the hall and she went to answer the phonecall that was about to change their lives.

'Becketts, Johanna speaking.'

'Hi Johanna, it's Martha, Rick's mom.'

'Oh, Martha, good morning.'

'Listen, I couldn't get Rick on his phone, could you tell him that he has to come to the Saint Anne Hospital within an hour, please?'

'Why – Oh my, Martha, are you alright?'

'I am fine. It's about his father.'

**Oh my God, this doesn't have any actual plot... I swear, not one of my best chapters. But that thing at the end, that phonecall? Yeah, that was totally spontaneous. I was just kind of "Well why the hell not, let's give them some complications, enough with the fluff!"  
>I AM SORRY IF THIS IS GOING TO DRAW YOU PEOPLE AWAY OR IF YOU WON'T LIKE THE STORY AS MUCH ANYMORE, BUT I JUST CAN'T KEEP WRITING FLUFF AND THEIR STORIES LIKE THIS BECAUSE IT SEEMS FAKE. That's why I'm going to use a little bit of what we get to know about Castle's father throughout the series (especially one juicy part, you can guess if you want (; ) and I hope that'll spice it up for the ones who need a little more than just sickeningly adorable teenagers. Because come one, we all know life isn't perfect, right?<strong>

**I LOVE YOU ALL, GUYS, REALLY. THANK YOU FOR ALL THE SUPPORT, I APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE REVIEW, ALERT AND FAVORITE. You make me keep going on with my writing.**

**Thanks again! **

**Ariela **


	14. Chapter 14

**So...Okay, I wasn't as fast as I intended to be, but still...It's been what, 2 weeks? This is progress for me.  
>Anyway, this is kind of focused on Rick and Rick's father, but it is romantically filled too. So basically, we go to the complicated stuff in this chapter and I don't know if I did it alright, but I hope I did, because just writing all this heavy stuff is hurting my head. I admit it's not really my kind of thing, but I hope I did the storyline justice.<strong>

**Umm... yeah, enjoy this chapter, hope you'll like it. **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 14: GOD, MY GOD, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?<strong>

'Where is he?' he asked, his jaw tightening at the sight of his mother's face.

'He's –'

'In there?' He opened the door of the room and marched right in without waiting for a response. He stopped when he saw the tall man with grey hair lying on the sheets with a phone in one of his hands. He looked up as he heard the door open and locked eyes with his son.

Rick suddenly snapped and flew forward until he was able to grip the steel of the foot of the bed.

'What the hell were you thinking, that if you call us it will suddenly all be forgotten?' he spat out and the man frowned.

'Hello, Richard. Where are your manners?' He snorted sarcastically, anger bubbling up in his throat.

'My manners? I had no clue who you even _were _for _17 years_, so excuse me if I'm not particularly glad to see you right now.'

'You didn't know for your own safety.'

'What?' The man sat up in the bed, grimacing slightly. He extended his hand as he spoke.

'First things first: my name's Arthur Malcolm Bellevue.' His arm was still outstretched, but Rick made no move to shake his 'father's' hand.

'Why would I care? You left without saying anything, so why should I give a damn about what you say?'

'Your mother hasn't told you everything. She lied to you about not knowing who I was or about how I didn't say anything when I left. She's known all along.' Rick's face fell at the mention of his own mother lying to him. She couldn't, could she? All these years…

'Richard,' he heard the soft, apologetic voice behind him and he turned around. His mother was standing there with her hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

'Please tell me it's not true,' he begged, his hands fists against the denimo f his shorts.

'I can't, kiddo. I'm so sorry,' she whispered back, and he felt his stomach turn over.

'You? My own mother?' he hissed and left even more furious than he arrived.

* * *

><p>'Come on, Rick. Pick up the phone.' She sighed and cursed under her breath, dialed his number again. The phone rang, but he didn't pick up and she was seriously starting to worry. She was so engrossed into her phone that she didn't hear the doors of her bedroom open.<p>

'She lied to me,' a faint voice behind her said and she turned around quickly, with her hand over her heart.

'Dammit, Rick, you scared me.' He didn't answer, instead just stuffed his hands in his pockets and bit his lip. He looked scared and hurt and angry and tired.

'Rick? Who lied to you?'

'My mother,' he replied.

'About what?'

'My father.'

'What is going on, Rick? After you got off the phone with Martha, you just rushed out. You didn't even tell me where you're going and I wouldn't know if my mom wouldn't have told me.' He exhaled and ran a hand down his face and through his hair.

'I don't know. I – he was there, Kate. He was lying there, looking up at me like it was nothing, like he sees me every day.'

'Your dad?' He nodded. Kate stepped forward, closer to him, but he backed away and his back hit the door with a soft thud. She frowned, hurt that he would pull away from her, but he just looked past her, staring through her window.

'His name's Arthur Malcolm Bellevue. He's…I don't even know anything else, because I left before he could tell me more.'

'Why did you leave?'

'Because my mom has known all this time who he was and she lied to me about it, saying she didn't remember, 'cause she was drunk and it was a one-night stand. She lied to me about it, Kate. All these years I've felt like shit, because I wasn't even supposed to happen, wasn't meant to be, because my mom had a one-night stand and just happened to conceive a child. With a man whose name she didn't even know. But now he tells me – _he_ tells me, not my mother – that she had known all along, that she was pretending. Do you even realize how that makes _me _feel?'

'Rick, I'm so –'

'No, Kate! I'm tired of people feeling sorry for me and I sure as hell don't need your pity!' he yelled at her, snapping, and she didn't even try to play nice.

'Then why the hell did you come here? Why, if you don't need my pity, my hugs or kisses or my words? Why, Rick? Tell me,' she said firmly and his posture visibly shrank. He erupted so suddenly, she didn't even know what was happening at first. He slid down the door, his face in his hands, his whole body shaking with sobs. She felt kind of bad for yelling back at him, but what else was she supposed to do? Angry Rick wasn't something she liked.

She quickly kneeled down next to him and pulled his head to her chest, running her fingers through his strands, her mouth pressed to his temple.

'Ssshh, it'll be alright,' she kept saying, like a mantra. She was assuring herself as much as she was assuring him.

* * *

><p>'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Kate.' She shook her head and kissed his forehead. They were lying curled up on the her bed together, silently begging each other for forgiveness. Until now.<p>

'Rick, it's fine, it's –'

'No, it isn't. I snapped at you when all you've been was nice and loving and God…Why do I always have to fuck things up?' Hearing him swear made her aware of how serious this situation must be for him. She raised his head to look into his eyes.

'Stop it, Rick. This isn't your fault and you snapping at me isn't your fault either. You just had the answer for the biggest and most important question of your life dumped on you like it wasn't a big deal. Of course it's a big deal! I'd snap like that, too.' He shut his eyes and leaned his forehead on hers.

'No, Kate. I shouldn't have taken it out on you. You're the only person that I could never snap at, but I did and God, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, I'm sorry, Kate.' He started to cry again and if he didn't start breathing properly anytime soon, he was going to hyperventilate. So she pulled away and lied down on him, her chest pressed against his, her hands clutching the skin on his lower back.

'Rick,' she whispered against his lips, feathered light kisses on his jaw to distract him from his train of thoughts. It seemed to work, since she felt his deep intake of air and the rise of his chest under hers. His hands immediately found her hips and his lips hers. His tongue touched hers and before she knew it, she was being pressed down into the bed by his body between her legs. His hands traveled from her hair to her chest to her back and her thighs. He was seizing it all, roaming over her like this was their last kiss. As soon as he bit down on the skin of her neck, she arched under him and gasped, her hands gripping his hips. He rocked against her suddenly and she moaned, closed her eyes against the onslaught of sensation. She wrapped a leg around his thigh as he smiled into her mouth and she knew that was the most passionate kiss they had ever had. Then, before she could figure out what was going on, she had the button on her shorts undone and Rick's thumb was trailing over the strap of her panties. She gasped and pressed his hand down on her stomach, stilling his movements as she pulled away from the heated kiss.

'Rick,' she breathed, licked her lips and glanced back down at his own. He groaned and kissed her again, tried to move his hand under her, but she held him still and broke the kiss once again.

'Stop,' she told him and he stopped moving, his breathing ragged.

'What?' he asked her, his eyes hooded and darker than she had ever seen them. He looked kind of terrifying in that moment.

'We can't – we can't do…this.'

'What? Why not?'

'Because you're angry and you're not even thinking about –'

'If you say I'm not thinking about you, I'm going to leave right now, because you've no right to say that.'

'Why not? Everything you can think about right now is to satisfy your own needs, to make you forget about everything.'

'Kate, all this time I was satisfying yours, I was always thinking about you first, so why can't you help _me_ now?'

'When did you become such a pusher?' she fired back and then closed her eyes as he stared at her. She took her hand off of his and put it over her eyes.

'Look, I think it's –'

'I'm not leaving, Kate,' he interrupted before she could finish her sentence.

'I don't think it's a good idea for you to be around me right now.'

He pulled her hand away from her eyes and held it over his heart.

'No, Kate. You're my only medicine. I – I need you, okay? I need you with me. I'll go back and talk to him, but I can't do it on my own. I need you there. With me. Please.'

'I don't know, Rick.'

'Listen, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry. You know this isn't me. I'm – I don't know what I was thinking and I don't want you to think that I'd use you, because I wouldn't.' She bit her lip and looked away from him.

'I know,' she whispered, closed her eyes as he pressed his lips against her cheek.

'God, I'm so sorry, Kate. I'm so sorry about everything. I…really am.'

'I know you are,' she whispered and pressed a kiss to his forehead, held him against her as their heartbeats slowed down.

'I love you,' he murmured into her skin suddenly, his lips moving against her neck, sending a shiver streaming through her.

'I love you too,' she replied, squeezed him and pressed him to her even more, knowing now that if she lost him, she would never be whole again.

* * *

><p>'Hi, Martha.' The woman lifted her head and stood up as she looked up and saw her son and his girlfriend standing there. Rick seemed very angry still, but not as much as when he had left the hospital earlier.<p>

'Kate…Richard?' When he still kept faced away from her, she sighed and wrapped her arms around her.

'I am deeply sorry for hiding this from you, Richard. But there _is _a reason behind all this.' He snapped suddenly, like at Kate's place as his head swiveled around to glare at his mother.

'What? That you didn't want me? That I was a mistake and I was never meant to be born?' Kate squeezed his hand, even though he was already gripping it so hard she could feel it go numb. She turned around and looked up at him, cupped his cheek to pull him down to her. Her lips brushed his as she spoke, 'Remember Rick, go slowly. Just…Don't do this to your mom.' He shut his eyes and nodded, leaned his forehead against hers.

'Okay.' He gave her a chaste kiss, then stepped back and looked at his mother.

'I'm going to stay and hear what you have to say. You and him both.' He spat out the word 'him' like it was venom in his mouth. Martha nodded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and as they walked to Rick's father's room, Kate squeezed the woman's arm and gave her a sypathetic smile. She, too, was mad at Martha and Arthur, but she could see that Martha was hurt by Rick's behaviour and words. She just hoped that something good will come out of this. She didn't want Rick hurting any more than he already was.

* * *

><p>Arthur was lying in bed, his fingers attached to his phone again. He looked up as he heard the door open, but the expression on his face was as solemn as it had been before when Rick first walked in here.<p>

'Richard,' the man said and Rick's jaw tensed with anger. Kate could practically feel the uncomfortableness radiating of off him in waves.

'Arthur,' Rick returned through gritted teeth, his father's name on his tongue like a razorblade. The man looked at Martha and she nodded, touched Rick's arm, but he pulled it away like she had burned him. The hurt was visible in Martha's eyes, but Rick ignored it, instead pulled Kate even closer.

She felt kind of bad, because she was the only person in the room whom Rick wanted to touch, even if the other two people were his parents. And she felt bad for them. She did. Because Rick was really angry right now. But the fact was, that he had the right to be angry, seeing as what they had done to him.

'You really weren't planned, Richard,' Arthur said calmly and Rick tensed with hurt and betrayal and anger. He opened his mouth to scream at his father, anything, but he continued talking before Rick could let out a single word.

'But we weren't unhappy to have you.' Rick's face scrunched up and he looked at his mom. She was silently crying; tears were rolling down her cheeks. Rick softened a bit at that and Kate knew that he was having a hard time not rushing to his mother's side and comforting her with a hug. So instead she stepped a little further away from Rick's side and gripped Martha's hand with one of hers in comfort. Martha gave her a watery smile as Rick exhaled loudly next to her.

'So what exactly were the two of you? Because I don't think you had just a one-night stand,' Kate asked the man lying in the bed, thinking that she had to start the conversation rolling somehow, otherwise Rick was going to explode again. Arthur sighed and looked at Martha, gave her a little smile.

'We were lovers,' he told Kate and she could hear Rick choke on a sob next to her. She let go of Martha's hand, because the woman moved towards Arthur to sit down in a chair next to his bed, and turned to face Rick fully, stepping in front of him, one hand still tight in his, the other one curling around his neck. His eyes were full of moisture and she saw that he was on the brink of crying.

'You gonna be fine?' she whispered onto his jaw and he shrugged, wrapped an arm around her waist.

'Just stay with me, please.' His voice was strained and broken, nothing like his usual cheery tone. She leaned further up and pressed her lips to his quickly, then pulled away and stepped back against his side. Rick took a deep breath and lifted his chin up, his tone cold and full of despise.

'Say what you have to say and then we're leaving.'

'You might won't be able to walk away from this so easily as you wish you could, Richard,' his father told him, his eyes and his tone of voice now getting more human as if he was a robot before Martha had taken his hand.

'I don't care what you say, I'm not going to sit by your side and pray that you'll be alright. I'm not going to sit here and listen to your stories of your _perfect little life_. I won't. I am done with listening to everyone else. From now on, I'm listening to my heart. And right now it's telling me that you aren't worth even a second of my time. Like I wasn't worth yours. So you better hurry up and say what you want to, so I can get back to my fatherless life,' Rick spat out at his father. Kate brushed her thumb over the knuckles of her boyfriend's hand and kissed his tee-covered shoulder. His stance deflated and he relaxed a bit more, calmed down at her her gesture.

'It's okay,' she whispered against the fabric and wrapped her unoccupied hand around the inside of his elbow.

'I loved you,' Arthur suddenly said and Rick's eyes widened.

'And I loved your mother. I loved both of you, you guys were my family.' Rick teared up at those words, but he pushed his hope back inside his chest, buried it deep in there.

'But my job prevented me from settling down. I needed to leave you, so you would be safe. I would never risk your lifes, you have to know that, Richard.'

'What job?' Rick asked him. Arthur glanced at Martha and then took a deep breath.

'I am a special agent of the CIA. Not just one of those regular ones, either. My title is actually special operations director. So I am a very dangerous man and I didn't want that danger in your lifes.' Rick and Kate just stared dumbly at him and Rick laughed out sarcastically.

'Are you kidding me! You're using this as your excuse? Come on, haven't you heard that impersonating a special agent is a crime?' Arthur glared at him and Rick stopped laughing.

'I am a real agent, Richard. If you don't believe, you should step outside and greet two nice gentlemen, dressed as civilians, who were sent here to protect me, because a mission that I was a planner of has gone terribly wrong.' Rick clenched his teeth and Kate stared at the man in the bed with her mouth open.

'So you're basically saying that you're a special agent and now you're in danger and so are our lifes and that's why you've decided to reveal your identity as my father to me right now?'

'Yes, something like that.'

'I'd say that this is so cool if I weren't angry as hell right now.' Kate couldn't help but smirk a little against his shoulder. He was still in there, behind all that anger, there was still her Rick. Then she quickly sobered as she realized the meaning of his words.

'Wait, in danger? Rick and Martha are in danger? What kind of danger?' she interrogated him, demanding to get some answers. She felt a cold dread fisting in her stomach, afraid of the answers to her questions.

'Let's just say that right now, a bomb could be thrown on this building if we hadn't secured the whole area. That's how badly they want me dead.' Kate frowned and felt Rick unwrap his fingers from around hers. She tried to pull him back, but he leaned down and pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth and then let go of her completely. She watched him as he sat down in a seat next to the bed carefully. He looked at his mom and then at his dad as he bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair.

'I don't know if I can just believe you so suddenly.'

'This is the truth, son.' His eyes snapped to his father's as he heard the word 'son' and then he looked away, sighing deeply.

'You've no idea how long I've wanted to hear you call me son.' Kate felt the tears build up in her own eyes as she watched the boy she loved being so fragile and hurt and broken.

'How I've yearned your presence by my side every single birthday I've had. How hard it was for me, being a kid, making the baseball team and watching all those other boys have their fathers by their sides. I've always wanted to be one of them. I needed you and you walked away. You chose your job over your family and I don't know if I'll ever be able to truly forgive you for that. Not to mention not contacting me for 16 years.'

'I'm sorry, Richard. I never meant to hurt any of you. You're my son and I love you, but this job took everything away from me and I didn't have a choice.'

'There's always a choice. You just decided to go with the easy one.' Arthur narrowed his eyes and sat up a little in the bed.

'You think it wasn't hard for me to leave you two behind? I loved your mother Rick, as much as you love your own girlfriend here. How would you feel, leaving her all of a sudden and not seeing her for 16 years?' Rick tried to hold back his tears and then looked at Kate. Her hand was pressed against her mouth, her cheeks moist with the drops from her eyes. She was looking straight at him, her lips trembling against her fingers.

Rick stood up and walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. Her exhale was hot against his throat and he closed his eyes, placed a kiss to the top of her head.

'I couldn't survive,' he whispered suddenly, turned his head to his father.

'I couldn't survive,' he repeated and felt a single tear slide down his cheek at the thought of losing Kate, not being able to hold her in his arms.

* * *

><p><strong>Whew, well. This is it for now. I'm going to the seaside on Sunday for 10 days, but I'll probably have my laptop with me, so I'll be able to write and maybe even post another chapter, who knows.<strong>

**Review and make me happy? Pretty please with lots and lots of cherries on top? :3**

**Ariela**


	15. Chapter 15

**Yay, I'm back! I know it took me quite some time, but at least I've managed to do it. From now on, my chapters will mostly be this long or shorter. And umm...Yeah, I'm sorry if I'm a little late with the upload, but I'm currently in the process of writing 5 stories or so, so I'm a bit busy. AND FOR ALL OF YOU WHO LIKE TEENAGE AU FICS WITH OUR FAVORITE CAST, I STARTED WRITING ANOTHER ONE, IT'S CALLED SUMMER LOVE AND THE FIRST CHAPTER WILL BE AVAILABLE IN JUST A COUPLE OF DAYS IF EVERYTHING GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN. **

**Thank you for your support, I love you all. (: **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 15: WE'D STAY UP LATE, DEBATE ON HOW WE'D FIND OUR WAY<strong>

'I can't believe this is real.' Kate looked at her boyfriend and stood up on her toes to press a sweet kiss on his cheek.

'Yeah. Me neither,' she said and wrapped her arms around him.

'I'm kind of scared,' he confessed, his fingers travelling down her spine. He pressed her closer to him, kissed her temple and sighed into her hair.

'Me too,' came her whispered reply.

'There…Never, _never _in my wildest dreams could I imagine this scenario. I swear I didn't even see it coming.'

'I think nobody did. Except for your mom.'

'Yeah.'

'Are you going to tell others?' He shrugged.

'I don't know. I probably shouldn't, what with the whole CIA secret agent and all.'

'Maybe you could just tell them that you've met your father. Just not…not the whole story. You leave out the pieces that were supposed to stay a secret.'

'You're right. They'll want to know, sooner or later.'

'You gonna tell them now?'

'Later. Right now, I just want to be with you.'

* * *

><p>'Richard.'<p>

'Arthur,' Rick greeted back with a stern face, his lips pursed. He was obviously still angry with his father for everything, but now a little less than in the beginning.

'Can't you call me 'dad'?' Rick snorted and crossed his arms across his chest.

'I can't. You're not my father; not with what you've done to us, to me.'

'Richard, I've apologized and explained why –'

'That still doesn't make it hurt any less!'

'I know it doesn't. Although if it makes you feel any better, my father was a CIA agent too and he did the same thing to me.' Rick gaped at him.

'So I guess this runs in the family, huh?'

'No. Only my father and me. You won't do the same.'

'How can you be so sure?'

'Because you couldn't leave behind the people you love. I saw it yesterday with your girlfriend. By the way, what's her name? You didn't even introduce her to me.'

'Yeah well, I don't recall there was a time for introductions.' Arthur sighed and ran a hand down his face.

'Look Richard, there's no need to be so hostile against me, I –'

'Well what else would you expect from me? I don't recall you giving a shit about my feelings before, so why would you now?'

'Watch your language, young man. I am sure that Martha has taught you better than that.'

'Yeah she did, but _you_ didn't. So I have every right to talk however I want to.'

'I guess you're growing up.'

'No kidding,' Rick said and looked away from his dad.

'Why are you even here? I mean in the hospital. What happened to you?' he asked after a moment and the man in the bed rubbed his chin with his hand and sat up straighter.

'I had an accident. Which involved helicopters and battleships and military airplanes. Let's just say that I kind of got stuck in a sunking ship.'

'Here close by? In the Pacific?'

'In the Pacific, yes. Close, no.'

'Why are you here then?'

'I asked to be treated here.'

'Why?'

'To be near you.' Rick opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again.

'You wanted to be near me after 16 years of being away from me!?'

'Calm down, Richard.'

'How can you tell me to calm down when just yesterday, I found out that my father has known about this whole time and works for the CIA and I don't know what else.'

'I'm sorry, son. I know this must be hard for you, and – don't interrupt me – I know that I'm a terrible father. But I beg you – I _beg _you – to give me a chance to fix this.'

'I don't know if I can do that.'

'I love you, okay? You are my son. And I still love your mother, Richard. I never stopped.' This surprised Rick and he gaped at his dad with his eyes wide open.

'You – you still love her?'

'Yes, I do. I never forgot about her. Every day that I've been out there, every day was filled with memories of her and you. Not a day passed by that I didn't think of what I could have had if I didn't go away, that I didn't regret my decision.' Rick exhaled and sat down into a chair next to the bed.

'I kind of am just a little bit sorry for the way I was acting yesterday…And today.'

'It's alright. You have every right to be mad at me, Richard.'

'Yeah, I do,' he confirmed with a nod of his head, but his the corner of his lips quirked up. Arthur gave him a half smile and just as he was about to say something, his phone chimed, announcing the delivery of a text message. He opened it up and almost shot out of the bed.

'Damn it!' he swore and Richard looked at him.

'What's wrong?'

'Someone broke into your apartment. Martha thankfully wasn't home,' he told him quickly and tried to get out of the bed. Rick stepped forward and grabbed his forearms.

'Wow, easy there.'

'I have to – Richard –'

'You're making this way too big a deal than it really is.'

'I'm not. I know what this is. It's them. I know it is.'

'Who 'them'?'

'The – I can't tell you, I'm sorry.'

'You – this is my family we're talking about!'

'It's mine, too!' Arthur yelled back at him and just a moment later, a nurse flew into the room and ordered him to lay back down before his blood pressure gets worse. As he settled back down and pulled the covers over his legs, the door opened and Martha walked in. She hugged Rick first.

'You okay?' She stepped away from him and nodded, and then gripped her ex-lover's hand in greeting.

'Martha,' he whispered and she leaned closer to him.

'I'm fine, Artie. I'm fine.'

'Rick?' Rick turned away from his parents and to the door. Kate was standing there, flustered and a little out of breath.

'Kate,' he breathed and crushed her to him. It had been three hours since they had last saw each other, but he missed her terribly. He kissed her lips hungrily, his palms cupping her rosy cheeks. She exhaled into him, wound her arms around his neck.

'I missed you,' he whispered in her ear and she pressed a kiss on his jaw.

'Me too. I heard what happened and if – if you were there and I…I needed to see you to believe that you're alright. I'm so glad you're okay, Rick.'

'I love you,' he murmured against her temple and then leaned back to look at her. She was on the edge of crying and her hands were shaking so badly, he could feel them twitching against his head with the time of her heartbeat. He captured her lips again, nibbled on the lower one and soothed it with his tongue, kissed her chin and her nose, under her eyelids and both her cheeks before returning back to her mouth.

'Love you too,' she replied at last and he smiled, closed his eyes and breathed her in.

'Excuse me,' they suddenly heard a voice interrupt from the doorway. A tall man stood there, in the way that you see in movies; his eyes hidden behind dark black sunglasses and his posture dressed in a black suit. There wasn't any wire behind his ear or anything that might give him away as a special agent, but the black suit and the sunglasses kind of took care of that.

The man cleared his throat and took off the piece of plastic covering his eyes, revealing cold blue with no emotion showing. He stepped closer to the crowd around the bed and intertwined his hands in front of him.

'My name's Jones, I work for The Agency,' the man said.

'I am quite sure that right now all the people gathered in here have the info about Mr. Bellevue's job.' The group nodded and the agent continued cold-heartedly.

'Well I have some bad news.'

'What are they?' Arthur asked carefully and grabbed Martha's hand.

'You are in danger, Mr. Bellevue and if you do not leave this hospital soon, there is a big chance that your enemies will find you.'

'I don't care. I want to be with my family.'

'Well you can be. Just not here.'

'What do you mean?' Rick suddenly spoke up and gripped Kate's waist even tighter than before, dreading the words before they even came out of the man's mouth. Agent Jones turned to him and with no emotion flashing across his face, he said calmly, 'Mr. Bellevue and his family are to leave Berkeley in a few days, for the sake of their own safety.' Jones glanced at Kate with a corner of his eye and Kate asked him with a fear in her voice, 'And I assume that by family you mean only Martha and Rick, right?' Jones put his sunglasses back on and looked at Arthur.

'If you do not leave this city and this state within a few days, you will all be dead. And yes, Miss Beckett, you assume correctly.' As Jones marched out of the room, Rick and Kate felt the air rush out of their lungs as the realization dawned on them; Rick was leaving. They were going to have to separate. They were being pulled apart.

* * *

><p>Later that day, Rick and Kate were lying on her bed, their bodies molded together and mouths connected. Rick's groan forced Kate to break the kiss and try to breathe. She put her hands on his chest to stop him from sitting up and insted leaned her forehead down on his chest.<p>

'Rick, we…You're…'

'I won't, Kate. I won't go.'

'You have to. It's your safety we're talking about he –'

'But I am not safe if I'm without you!' She sighed desperately and looked him in the eyes, stroked her fingers down his cheeks.

'I love you. And that's not going to change anytime soon. But I need you to be safe. I need you to stay alive, Rick. Because I don't know if I am able to live without you anymore.'

'Anytime soon – Kate, I am _not _leaving you. I have everything here. This is my life. I'm not going to just walk away because of my father. He's the one that got us into this and I won't tolerate it. I'm not leaving.' He leaned up with his fingers tangled in her hair and sucked the air out of her lungs with his lips, that slow-burning current they always had while touching each other.

'You have to go. You have to. I won't stand it if you get hurt and it's because you didn't want to leave me.' He sighed and she rolled off of him, pressed the heels of her hands in her eyesockets.

'I don't _want _you to go, Rick. But you have to go.' He snorted and sat up on her bed, ran his hand through his hair.

'I don't want to go either. I don't even know what Arthur thinks about all this. And I don't know when we're even supposed to go. I don't know anything,' he gritted out and stood up, walking the short distance to Kate's window, where he leaned on the window sill.

'I'm sorry,' she said. She didn't know what for, but she was sorry. For everything. For the fact that they had so little time and now distance was about to rip them apart because of something bigger than them.

'Yeah, I'm sorry too, but that still doesn't change anything.' She stood up too, walked over to him and pressed her lips together.

'What do you want me to say here, Rick? I'm trying okay? I'm trying to be okay with the fact that you're leaving and everything else that was dumped on me and _I don't know what to say,_ okay?' He was facing the window, but his head was turned to her and his eyes spoke volumes about his own regrets and fears.

'I can't stand the idea of not being able to hold you, Rick. I can't tell you that I need you to stay, because if you die, I'll never be able to forgive myself. So I can't tell you to stay, I can't tell you to forget about me either, but please, just _please_, remember me. Just promise me that. That's all I need.' A single tear slipped down her cheek and suddenly she found herself in Rick's embrace. A quiet sob escaped her throat as she said with a ragged voice, 'I love you.' His arms tightened around her and she felt his lips press against her ear.

'God, Kate. I'll never forget about you and damn it, this is not going to end because I'm leaving. I'm not letting the distance ruin us. I need you like flowers need water and even more, you're my lifeline. If I lose you, I lose myself.' Her palms pressed into his shoulder blades, crushing him to her.

'I won't survive. You'll be too far. I won't be able to do this. I can't. I'm so sorry,' she told him with a ragged voice, then stepped away from him, back until she hit her night stand with the backs of her knees. Her hand found its way to her mouth as she whimpered.

She loved him, yes, but she would never be able to survive him being so far away from her.

'What are you talking about, Kate?' he asked her carefully and stepped closer, his own voice sounding nothing like him.

'I… We can't do this long-distance relationship thing, Rick. It's only going to break us.'

'So you're breaking us now instead? Damn it, Kate, we're in love! We shouldn't be pulled apart, but we are going to be and we'll survive it, God, just believe me when I say this, please. I can't deal with the prospect of losing you.'

'It's only going to hurt more when we're going to be miles apart. What if they send you to Europe? Or Asia? Or Africa? What if we never see each other again?' she prompted, tried to make him understand her.

'Well then just fuck it, Kate,' he raised his voice, his fists clenching against his sides. He exhaled slowly, tried to compose himself. He didn't swear a lot, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

'Look, Kate… I know this is not perfect, I know that we're all screwed up and broken, but I can't let you do this to us. We've come way too far for you to throw it all away.'

'I'm sorry okay, but I can't –'

'I hate it when you act like this means nothing to you.' She was obviously hurt by that accusation, so she stalked forwards until she could poke him in the chest. _Hard_.

'And I hate it when you act like you don't know that this means _everything _to me!' she yelled at him.

'If it means everything to you, then why are you ending it!?' he shouted back, grabbed her pointed finger with his own.

'Tell me Kate, because I sure don't know.'

'Because I hate the fact that when you leave you'll be somwhere off on your own and you'll meet new people, more beautiful people than me and you'll forget me and fall in love with someone who is not me and then I'll be more broken because I'll still be in love with you!' Her lips trembled with the force that she was holding the tears back with.

'Do you get me now, Rick? Because I'm jealous, okay? And because if I know that this is over, then I won't lay on my bed at night wishing with my whole being to just be with you, to just have you kiss me once. I'll be breaking inside while you'll be gone and I'm going to be hurting as hell. You're going to be better off without me, without my burden. You'll meet new people and be happier than you ever were here. And because I love you so much I'm willing to sacrifice my own heart and happiness for yours. I'm willing to do that for you, Rick. You'll always come first.'

And that's when _he _fell apart. He started to cry so hard his whole body shook with him. He slid to his knees with his hands hanging limply by his sides. Kate kneeled down next to him and hugged him to her, rubbed his back and his head, pressed kisses along every expanse of his body she could reach with her mouth. This was the second time he broke down in her room.

When he calmed down enough to talk, he lifted his head and cupped both her cheeks with his trembling hands. He made sure that she was looking at him and then said, with more honesty that he had ever put into his words, 'I want only you, forever. I love only you, forever. You're the only one for me. Please don't – don't break us even more. Please don't. I won't survive. I won't. Please, Kate.' They both teared up again as he leaned closer and smashed his lips over hers.

'Okay,' she said and he felt a weight lift off his chest.

'Okay?' he asked, still unsure if she really meant it, if she was really going to stay with him no matter what.

'Okay,' came her breathless reply before she lit up his world with a smile he'd never seen before.

* * *

><p>The next two days were spent in a haze. Rick and Kate were together all the time, either at her place or at the hospital or down at the docks. They refused to leave each other at midnight when Johanna stepped out onto the porch and told Rick he should go home, but at last he left because he didn't want to leave his mother alone at their apartment, especially now that <em>they <em>knew where they lived. They got protective detail, but he wasn't sure if he could just trust anybody who said they were CIA.

The boys called him, but he ignored their calls. The girls called Kate, but she kept it short when they tried to ask about Rick. She just told them that he's fine, that they're fine, but they have something to tell them and would let them know when the time comes.

The second day after they'd been told Rick had to leave Berkeley, they were in the hospital with Martha and Arthur.

'Arthur,' Rick started and the old man turned his tired eyes to him.

'I hoped you could maybe start calling me dad?' he almost-asked, sighing at the end of the sentence.

'I can't just – I need – I need time.' Arthur nodded and gave him a little smile.

'Okay. I can give you that.' Rick stiffened slightly then and his arm around Kate's shoulders tensed.

'I have a question,' he said and Arthur nodded at him again, waited for him to continue.

'Ask away, son.'

'When are we leaving? And where? And will we ever be able to come back here? Will I ever see Kate again?'

'Wow, easy boy. That's more than just one question. And I'm afraid I can't answer all of them. Not just yet.'

'Then answer the ones you can. Please. I need something, _something _to hold onto.'

'We're leaving in about three days if I understood correctly. But I can call and ask again if that's what you want. We're going somewhere east of here. And quite far. I have a feeling they might throw us all the way across the country. The other two questions I cannot answer, son. I'm sorry.' And with that, Rick and Kate's world fell apart. Not just that they would be pulled apart, thousand miles between them, but there was no promise that Rick would ever return to Berkeley. And they only had three days to make the most of it before he had to leave. Maybe forever.

'But there's this much I can tell you. The ones we're currently fighting against are not as big of an organization as we first thought they were. They can be defeated. But we need some time and right now time is the only thing that's going to be difficult for you to accept. And distance, probably, but distance doesn't ruin the relationship. If you guys don't see each other for months, then that's not that bad, but if you won't see each other for years, then you'll drift apart. I know you don't want that. Either of you. But this is the truth. And time is quite unfortunately the only thing you that's defining your lifes. So make the most of it while you're still together. You don't know how long it will be until you see each other again. I'm sorry, but that's the best advice I can give you right now.'

Arthur's long speech was over and Kate turned her face into Rick's chest, brushed her tear-stained cheeks against the fabric. She could feel his chest spasming in an irregular rhythm and she knew he was holding back the sobs. This was going to kill them both.

'We'll make it. I know we will. We're stronger than time and space. I know we are, Kate,' she heard him mumble into her hair and she nodded shortly against him, just once, then inhaled sharply as she felt a wave of nausea took over her. She was _not _going to puke in front of his family and most definitely not on him. She had to get some control over herself.

'Don't let her go, Rick. I made that mistake once and I'll never be able to forgive myself,' Arthur spoke up suddenly, looking at Martha. She leaned down to him and pressed a kiss against his cheek, her hand curling against his neck.

'It's okay, Arthur.' He sighed, but shook his head against her shoulder, closed his eyes.

Rick watched them carefully, his stomach fluttering with the fact that obviously his parents were still in love and together at last. But at the same time, he was overflowed with dread. He was leaving Kate behind to get a new life. He had no idea how he'll be able to survive without her.

'I love you so much,' he whispered suddenly and felt her shake against him. She was practically on the verge of having a panic attack, but he needed her to stay strong. For both their sakes.

'Keep breathing, baby. I'm here,' he said, stroking her hair with his left hand. The curls burned his skin, making imprints that he wasn't sure would ever fade away.

'For now,' she said quietly and his heart broke into million pieces.

For now.

But that was all they had at the moment.

* * *

><p><strong>Aaaaand cut! Yeah, that's all I have for you right now, folks. Make sure to stop by later to take a look at my new AU FIC and a new chapter of this story, as well as a sequel for <em>Of Rooftops and Ice Cream<em>. I'll really try to write it all. But I can't promise anything. Sadly.**

**What did you think? Good, bad? Review and let me know, please.**

**Ariela**


	16. Chapter 16

**Well, I'm sorry for the delay. I really had no time to write or I was just too lazy to do it, hah. Well it was mostly Tumblr's fault, because that thing's really addictive, damn. Okay, well, here it is, chapter 16. **

**I hope you guys like it and that I did it right, because I'm really not sure of it and your opinion would mean a lot to me. **

**Thank you in advance. **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 16: LOOKS LIKE THE LOVERS ARE LOSING<strong>

'I don't want to go.'

'I know. I don't want you to go either,' she replied, tucked herself further into the valleys of his body. It was two days before the end, before he had to leave and not come back for god-knows-how-long.

'What am I going to do without you?' he asked, curling a hand into her hair, his chest constricting.

'Live,' she answered him and he let out a sad laughter, pressing his lips against her forehead.

'Don't you know I can't live without you anymore?'

'I know,' she said and leaned up to kiss him. They spent the whole morning together like that on her bed until it was time to go to the hospital. They both feared what was expecting them there.

* * *

><p>They found out where Rick's family was going to move to.<p>

New York. As far as they could possibly go. Kate burst out into tears as soon as it sunk in that he was going to be thousands of miles away.

So it was official now.

And they couldn't do anything to stop it.

'I can't leave her, Arthur,' Rick said as he held his girlfriend close, stroking his fingers through her hair in a comforting gesture. He was afraid she might get another panic attack, similar to the one she got yesterday evening when they were alone at her house and she just broke down in the bathroom as soon as waves of realization hit her; they only had a few days.

Arthur was able to walk a few steps of distance and he was currently sitting in a chair in front of them. Even he got teary-eyed when he had to tell them the plan.

New York.

At least for 3 months.

No revealing destinations over phone or internet once they get situated in NY in case someone was listening in.

New identities, which they were not to reveal over the phone either.

New school, new life, new _everything_.

Rick and Kate were allowed to keep in touch, but not overly so.

Everything was going to change for everyone.

'I'm sorry , kid. But this is the only way everyone will be safe,' Arthur told him and then leaned forward to place his hand on his son's knee.

'I can't leave her, Arthur,' Rick repeated, his own eyes glistening with tears. Kate was still quietly sobbing into the junction of his neck and his shoulders, her chest spasming with the force of her sobs.

'You have to, son. You'll come back to her.'

'How do you know that!?' Rick snapped, his teeth clenching together.

'How can you possibly guarantee me that someone won't crash our plane while flying over to New York? How can you tell me that Kate and her family is going to be safe, when you're telling me that everyone I've ever met is in danger. How can you tell me to leave her when she's the only one I'll ever love? You know how that feels! How can you even think for a second that everything is going to be alright!? How, dad? Tell me.' His voice echoed off the white walls of the private hospital room as he stared at the old man in front of him. It was the first time he had ever called Arthur 'dad' and both of them realized it at the same time. Their eyes widened and Arthur closed shut his on a sigh.

'Look, Rick. I know it's hard, because I've been through the same things as you. My father was a CIA operative too and I had to leave people that I loved behind, too. I know how you feel,' he told his son, then opened his eyes as he replied harshly.

'You don't.'

'But I can relate. And that should be enough.' Rick sighed sadly and tightened his arms around Kate.

'But it's not. It's not enough without Kate,' he whispered and Arthur smiled sadly, apology written in his eyes.

'I know son.'

Kate chose that moment to lift her head up and wiped the tears off her cheeks. She sniffled and cleared her throat, then awkwardly stood up and shuffled out of the room with a muffled 'Excuse me' on her lips.

* * *

><p>Oh God. She couldn't breathe. There was a pounding in her head, so strong that she thought it was going to pierce through her skull. She tried to breathe properly, but she couldn't even suck in enough air to fill her lungs. Her body was spasming and everything around her was spinning.<p>

She leaned forward on the sink and opened the water, let her hands get wet before she ran them across her face and even that didn't help. She felt awfully weak and she knew she'd black out again if she didn't do something about it. She stumbled backwards and felt her back hit the wall next to the bathroom door as a sob escaped her. She was trembling, her whole body shaking so badly that she was wondering how the hell she was able to stand. Suddenly she felt a twitch in her body, like an iron fist hitting her straight into the guts and she fell down the floor, barely registering the last milisecond before she blacked out strong arms intercepting her fall.

* * *

><p>'Kate?' Her limbs felt heavy and dead. She tried to move her head, but it hurt too much. A strangled groan came out of her mouth and she felt a hand on her cheek, burning her skin with the intensity of the touch.<p>

'Kate?' She heard a familiar voice call again and she finally opened her eyes. It was too bright at first, so she had to blink a few times, but as her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she saw Rick's concerned and scared-the-hell-out face.

'Kate,' he whispered and she tried to sit up to kiss him, hug him, but she felt so heavy, almost as if she was sedated.

'Wha –' she tried, but her lips felt dry.

'Oh!' Rick exclaimed and reached over her for a glass of water. Only then did she notice that she was lying in a hospital bed. In Arthur's room? No, his stuff wasn't here, so not there apparently. As she sipped the cool liquid, Rick noticed her wondering eyes.

'You blacked out again. They gave you some pills for that headache. I'm sure you have it, right?' She nodded and sat up. Rick took the glass away from her and looked at her carefully.

'Are you…Are you okay?' She opened her mouth to say yes, but she stopped before she could utter a sound. She was _not _going to lie to him now.

'No, Rick. I'm not. I'm tired and scared and I wish you didn't have to leave.' He sighed and nodded, then brushed her hip with the tips of his fingers to make her scoot over on the bed. He settled down, then wrapped his arm around her, tangling their fingers together with his right hand.

'I'm scared, too.' There was a deep exhale before she leaned even more into him and kissed his chest, then kept her lips pressed to his t-shirt, welcoming his warmth.

'I know you are,' she murmured, then lifted her head and caught his lips with hers.

* * *

><p>In the late afternoon, Rick and Kate decided that they should talk to their friends, finally be honest with them. They called Javi and arranged to meet in the Grizzly Peak Park, near the swings. When Rick and Kate walked into the park hand-in-hand, they saw the whole gang gathered there already. Lanie noticed them first and stepped forward. Then they all turned around to look at them.<p>

'Are you sure you want to do this with me, Kate?' he whispered, close to her ear and she nodded, squeezed his hand.

'I'm not leaving your side, Rick,' she told him, then leaned up to give him a kiss before they stopped in front of their friends.

They were quiet for a minute, just observing each other. Then Kevin moved and stepped forward to hug them both.

'We were so worried about you guys. Are you alright?' Rick, obviously shocked from Kevin's reaction, nodded but then Kate stepped in.

'No, we're not. We're…We have something to tell you. Well…Rick mostly, but I'm – it concerns me, too,' she said, then bumped Rick's thigh with their linked knuckles to get him to talk. He cleared his throat and decided it's best if he just says it. Like a band-aid, right? It hurts less.

'Well, I'm – I'm moving.'

'You're what?' Jenny asked and Rick noticed all of them staring dumbly at him.

'I'm moving. In another city.' Their jaws dropped and he ran a hand through his hair.

'Look, it's – my father has come forward and revealed himself to me and he…We – me and my mom – decided to go live with him in New York.' The shock on their faces intensed.

'You're moving to New York!?' Javi gritted out and Rick's posture visibly shrunk.

'Yes.'

'Are you kidding me!? That's like 3000 miles away!'

'I know how far away it is, do you think I haven't calculated the exact distance between Berkeley and New York as soon as I found out!?' Rick snapped back and Javi shut up.

'Are you insane? You're going to leave Kate here to go live with your father who _left _you and your mom?' Rick tensed and forced himself to stay calm.

'I don't want to leave Kate and I –'

'But that's exactly what you're doing!' Javi yelled and Rick dropped Kate's hand before stepping forward, right into Javier's personal space. His fists clenched against his sides.

'I am _not_. I don't _want _to go. I _have _to. I don't have a choice.'

'Guys, stop it,' Kate interfered and stepped between them, one hand on Rick's chest to hold him back.

'There's always a choice,' Javi gritted out and Rick pursed his lips.

'You don't know the whole story.'

'Then tell us,' Kevin said and Rick's eyes flicked between the two of them.

'I wish I could, but I can't.'

'Why not? You're a part of our lifes too, you know. If you go away, it won't just affect Kate, but us too. How can you expect us to just blindly say 'it's okay' when you're moving to the other side of the country?' Lanie burst out suddenly and Rick's eyes watered. He stepped forward and hugged the girl.

'I'm sorry, Lanie. You know I love you all. You're my best friends. But life has a knack for interfering with my happiness lately. I'm sorry.' Lanie's arms tightened around him for a moment and then she let go completely and took a giant step back, depositing herself right into her boyfriend's arms.

'If you really have to go, then go.' Rick nodded and after he hugged Kevin and Jenny, said goodbye to them, he faced Javi with his hands in his pockets.

'Javi, I'm sorry.'

'You don't have to apologize to me. You said you have to go. Okay, then go.'

'I don't want this.' When Javier didn't reply, Kate pulled her boyfriend away from him and faced the others.

'I'll see you guys soon,' she said. Rick waved his goodbye and kept looking back at his friends as he and Kate were walking away from them to his bike.

'He's going to snap out of it.' Rick turned his head to look at Kate just as she pulled her helmet on.

'I don't know,' he said.

'Give him time.'

'But I'm leaving in two days. That's not nearly enough time, Kate.' She squeezed his hand and smiled sympathetically at him.

'I know.'

* * *

><p>Her back was pushed into the tree roughly, but she barely noticed it because of his hands grabbing her hips so tightly that she felt like the life was being squeezed out of her. He pressed the long line of his body into hers and she tried to escape, but he held her down more firmly, his mouth attaching to her neck. One of her knees twitched and before she could slide down the rough surface of the tree, his hand wrapped around her thigh and lifted her leg up, wrapping it around his hip. She fisted her hand in his hair, clawed at his back with the other one. His hips bucked into hers and she gasped, had to close her eyes, then suddenly felt his lips closing over hers, shutting down her thoughts.<p>

But not before she could remember where they were.

'God, Ri – Rick.' He hummed against her cheek, one of his hands travelling up the front of her top. She swallowed down the breathless groan threatening to escape her and pulled his mouth away from her.

'Stop, we… We have to stop.' Rick could only give her a questioning look and she really tried to explain it to him, but her ragged breathing made it really hard for her. So she stole his mouth instead, forgetting about what she was going to say. As their tongues clashed together, she felt one of his hands grip her bottom, pressing her even closer than before.

'Shi – Rick.'

'What?' Her hips undulated against his and his teeth pinched her bottom lip and she felt like she was going to explode, but not really and she really needed air right now.

'I need –'

'What, Kate?'

'I need some air,' she breathed and pushed him away, stumbled to the nearest rock and sat down with her head in her hands.

'Kate?' She exhaled slowly and tried to slow down her breathing. Her body was still tingling from his touch and burning _for _his touch. She wanted him, but she couldn't. Not now. Not when he was leaving in two days, leaving her all alone out here.

'Kate.'

'I…I can't, Rick.'

'You can't what?' he asked her softly and she lifted her head, but kept her hand over her mouth. He was kneeling in front of her, his hands twitching with the need to touch her.

'I can't do this now.'

'Do what?' he asked, confused.

'Have sex with you.' His mouth dropped and he stared dumbly at her.

'I mean, I – I want to, I guess. I just –'

'Kate.' She looked up from her fidgeting hands and found him smiling at her sweetly.

'What?'

'I'm not asking you to have sex with me.' She furrowed her brows and bit her lip.

'But you – what just happened –'

'Was pure instinct. Kate, I know you're not ready and that you're not okay with doing this right now when I'm moving so far away. I'd never pressure you into anything. You know that, don't you?'

'I do, I just…' He leaned closer and cupped her kneecaps with his hands, his thumbs slowly stroking the fabric of her jeans.

'What?'

'I want you,' she whispered and his eyes widened. He shook his head and reached for her hands.

'Kate, I don't –'

'No, I don't want to have sex, I just… I want you. I needed that, I needed the release.' His jaw almost touched the floor.

'Are you –'

'Yes. But I just thought you'd want more and then I needed to walk away, otherwise I'd just… Keep on going.'

'Are you really being serious right now? You're not kidding me?'

'No. I need it still and I… You make me feel all these things and I'm really confused sometimes when things get a bit, uhm… hot.' Rick laughed then and she scrunched up her face. Apparently he noticed that she was offended by his laughter, so he quickly leaned up to press his lips to hers.

'God, Kate. Don't ever be ashamed with this. And don't hesitate to tell me what you feel, ever.'

'But I just –'

'I can give you whatever you want, Kate. You just need to talk to me.' She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then…

'I just want you.'

'Just not like _that_, right?' She shook her head, then clasped her fingers around his.

'In every way possible. Just not yet, not now when you're leaving for so long.' He nodded, but she felt the need to explain it to him even more.

'I want to keep this open, because we don't know when we'll see each other again.' He stared at her for a long moment, then stood up and shook her hands off.

'Kate, I'm not going to run around seeking pleasure from other girls, when I want only you. Are you saying you'd want other guys to _touch _you? Even when you're still with me? You just said that –' He was cut off by Kate's lips crashing down onto his. She backed him up against a tree, ran her fingers through his hair. She loved it when his hair was all messy because of her hans. She loved seeing the evidence of what she did to him.

He pulled back suddenly and gripped her shoulders to make her stay still.

'Kate, are you even –'

'I love _you_. No one else. I'm not going to let anyone touch me. You're the only one that I want, Rick. Just you.' He lunged forward, bending her at the waist so he could lower himself on his knees and then down onto her. They kissed in piles of the autumn leaves and really neither realized what was going on, until Kate's wish was fulfilled and matching grins broke out on their faces, Kate's more pleased and glowing than Rick's.

As their breathing calmed down, Rick buttoned Kate's jeans back up and rested his head on her chest.

'Oh God.' She giggled and stroked his hair lovingly.

'What?'

'That was – yeah.'

'Isn't that what I'm supposed to say?'

'Yes, but… Wow, okay.' Kate laughed this time and Rick stretched up her body to kiss her.

'So you liked it?' he asked her, twirling a strand of her hair between his fingers.

'Yeah,' she answered. Then grinned devilishly and pressed up against him.

'You got really skillful hands there, mister. Should have done this sooner.' He gaped at her and she laughed out loud, her body shaking with laughter.

'Damn tease.'

'What?' she said, then leaned up to whisper into his ear.

'You can't deny that you like it when I'm like this.'

'I do. I love it. It's just a bit unusual for you.' She bit his earlobe gently, then slid her mouth over his cheek to claim his lips greedily.

'But it's still me and I like this.' He nodded, then grinned.

'Although… I can't believe you did this to me on the dirty ground in the woods,' she complained and swatted his chest playfully. He gasped in mock outrage and shook his head.

'No no, that wasn't me, Kate. That was all you.' He dragged out the 'l' in 'all' so that it made her eyes flick down to his lips. When he winked at her, she punched his arm. Hard.

'Ow! What was that for?'

'It wasn't all me. You're the one who's making me h –' She stopped suddenly and bit her lip, looked away from him.

'Am I making you hot, Kate?' he murmured into her ear, slid his hand down her thigh to grip her hip. She made a low sound in the back of her throat and he laughed.

'Good to know,' he said, then suddenly stood up and pulled her with him. They stumbled a bit, especially Kate, and then marched off back to Rick's apartment, both blushing on the way as they realized that they'd just crossed another line in their relationship, a more intimate one.

Well, they only had time for a little of that, since the day of departure was getting nearer and nearer by the second.

* * *

><p><strong>Khhhmmm... Well...there is that. I'd really like to go hide now, because I don't know if inserting this in here was right or whatever, because some of you might have thought they have already done this, but really, something this important for them? I would have mentioned it for sure. Ummm, yeah... So if you liked that last part, then that's great! But if you didn't, well then you can politely tell me so or don't say anything at all. (:<br>**

******I just thought you guys would have liked that because of what's currently going on in the show...**

**Speaking of show...**

**OH MY GOD GUYSSSSS, SEPTEMBER IS HERE, 22 DAYS LEFT UNTIL CASTLE SEASON 5 PREMIERE OMGOMGOMG *reminds myself now that breathing is actually neccessary for existence*  
><strong>

**Ok. Well.. Thanks for reading this and I love you guys, really. And I hope you weren't too disappointed or whatever with this chapter, I tried to do my best!  
><strong>

**Ariela**


	17. Chapter 17

**So, I am fast this time, all you people made it so much easier for me to write this so fast! Thank you for your reviews and PMs and kind words, it really meant a lot. I'm sorry if I over-reacted a bit, but I am a sensitive person, even if I don't show it. **

**Thank you also for all the favs and follows I got for this story. I know it's close to nothing compared to other authors, but this is a lot to me.**

**AND UMM... I REALLY, REALLY HOPE YOU GUYS DON'T CRY AND BREAK DOWN IN THIS CHAPTER. I KNOW I ALMOST DID. BUT HEY, GOOD LUCK WITH THAT, YEAH?**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 17: WE SAY GOODBYE IN THE POURING RAIN AND I BREAK DOWN AS YOU WALK AWAY<strong>

Two days later, on the day of Rick's departure, it was raining.

Funny how the sky seemed to have figured out the mood of the two teenagers.

Like it reflected their tears on their cheeks.

Rick wasn't leaving until 10 PM, so they practically still had the whole day, but they were so afraid of what would happen to them once they needed to separate. Rick was pretty sure he would cry and beg his father to let him stay, just for a few more days, just a little longer, just… Let him stay with Kate.

'What are you thinking about?' She asked him suddenly, dragging him out of his thoughts. He hummed and looked down at her. She was lying on the couch with her head in his lap. They were supposed to be watching Get Him To The Greek, something funny to take their minds off of Rick leaving. Obviously it wasn't working, because they were both lost in their own thoughts.

He shrugged and ran his fingers through the strands of her hair. He's been doing that for half an hour now, ever since the movie started and he didn't even realize it.

'I don't know. Everything. Nothing.' She smiled sympathethically at him and then gestured for him to come closer. He leaned down and she leaned up and their breaths mingled in the middle, their mouths meeting languidly. They were savoring every touch and every kiss, knowing that in a few hours, they'd be thousands of miles away.

'I think you think too much.'

'I think you think too much about me thinking too much.'

'Stop it with your word games, Rick.' He grinned and she swatted his chest, then sat up on the couch next to him, immediately leaning into his side. He welcomed her with an arm around her shoulder, the other cupping her cheek and pulling her lips to his.

'I love you,' he whispered and she sighed against his open mouth.

'I love you too.'

* * *

><p>'I can't believe you just did that again.'<p>

'What?'

'I told you about this, Rick. Don't get me addicted.'

'So, you're saying that I'm addictive?' he offered with a cheshire grin spread across his face. He was holding her down with his weight, so she couldn't move off the bed, but that still didn't stop her from hitting his arm. He didn't even twitch, just pressed himself even more into her quivering body, kissed her with all he had. She arched under him and felt his fingers move, tracing a dangerous path down her front. She wrapped a leg around his waist, felt his groan more than she heard it, then in a swift move turned him over so that she was on top and in control. She broke the kiss, panting. He looked up at her with dark, hooded eyes and she smirked.

'No, but I know I am to you.' Rick's brows furrowed in confusion for a moment, before he remembered the teasing they currently had going on.

'I never said you were addictive.'

'Maybe not with your words, but your body sure as hell spoke enough of them.' His mouth dropped open as she pressed her hips into his and leaned down so that their chests barely brushed, her lips trembling painfully close to his.

'Shit, Kate,' he growled and she chuckled, the movement shaking her body over him.

'What's wrong, big guy?' He narrowed his eyes, tried to formulate a plan to get back to her in his head.

'Are you saying it gets you hot if I'm on top of you?' He swallowed and nodded, couldn't really think straight with Kate acting like this. He's never seen her like…All this sexy-smouldering-bedroom voice and her body curled tight around his, really, really tight…

Oh God, He was a goner. Or maybe a b –

'Katie! Rick!' Kate jumped off of him like a cat, feverishly hot cat, all bouncy chest and long legs and messy hair. She buttoned up her black skinny pants and ran her hands through her hair.

'Rick!' He heard her hiss at him. He looked up at her in confusion, and was that Kate's dad he heard at the end of the hallway?

'Rick! For god sakes, stand up and fix yourself!' she said, pulling him up with her hand, but she pulled just a little bit too much and he came stumbling into her, his arms wrapping around her waist, his mouth brushing the tendons of her neck. She stilled for a moment and gave a shaky sigh, then suddenly remembered her father is just on the other side of the door and they were kind of standing like this, intimate, but so right, in the middle of her bedroom and shit, he was going to catch them if he didn't move _now_!

'Rick, damn it!' He finally extracted himself from around her and jumped under the covers head-first, his face mashing into the pillow. Kate stood at the foot of the bed as her dad waltzed in, carrying an ice cream tube. Jim stopped near Kate and looked at Rick looking like a retard back up at him with his boyish smile.

'Guys, I brought this up for you. Dinner's at 7, so you still have about an hour until then. Just wanted to make sure you aren't hungry or craving for sweets. I know Katie usually does.' He smiled briefly, put the ice cream bowl on Kate's nightstand and then left the bedroom quietly.

Rick exhaled and kicked the covers to the end of the bed. He was unusually hot, but he knew the reason behind it though. As he was just about to stand up, he felt Kate's long, lithe body draping over his, her chest pressed against his back, her hips over his and her legs twined with both of his. Her forehead rested against the nape of his neck, Kate's lips twitching against his clammy skin. Her arms were splayed over the mattress like his were, mimicing the position. He felt all of her, so warm and calm and _beautiful_ against him and he had never felt as safe as right then.

'Kate?' he asked, still unsure of what she was even doing.

'Just resting, Rick,' she answered him, obviously reading his mind.

'Are you even comfortable like this?'

'More than ever. Now shush and let me rest in quiet.' Her lips pressing a kiss against his neck made up for her weird-stern tone, and he relaxed completely under her, her heartbeat strong against his vertebrae and her stomach pressing against his lower back every time she exhaled. He felt so peaceful.

'Love you, babe,' she murmured, drifting into a sleepy haze and he smiled into the pillow, then slightly lowered his hand to capture her fingers with his own.

'Love you too, beautiful.'

* * *

><p>He awoke with a start. His head shot up from the comfortable pillow it was resting on and looked around the room, searching for Kate. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. His back was still kind of warm from her body, so he figured she must had woken up just a few minutes before he did. He looked at the nightstand for the hour.<p>

It was already 7.17. Why didn't they wake him up for dinner? He stood up and shuffled out of the door, only to collide with his girlfriend. She gasped and gripped his forearms.

'Rick! What are you doing?'

'What are _you _doing?' he asked her, still confused about why she'd leave him sleep.

'I was just coming to wake you up.'

'Isn't dinner like already over or something?' he said accusingly and stepped away from her. He didn't even know why, but he was angry for some reason.

'No, I was coming here to wake you up to tell you dinner is ready. We're a bit late with it, I know, but… Hey, are you okay?' He sighed and nodded, then scrubbed a hand down his tired face.

'Yeah, just – just tired. Don't worry, I'm fine, I'll be fine.' She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked at him closely.

'Are you sure?'

'I am.' Her fingertips touched his cheek gently and he closed his eyes, reveled in the feeling that he knew he won't be able to feel in a few hours anymore. He turned his head and brushed his lips across her palm, her slender digits wrapping around his mouth for a second. She released him then, led him down to the dining room, their hands linked between them.

* * *

><p>The rain was pouring down.<p>

Such a cliché.

But so true.

Like the sky was weeping with them, soothing. But nothing helped. They were being pulled apart in a matter of minutes.

* * *

><p>15 minutes.<p>

That's all they had left.

5 minutes for the car to come here.

Another 5 minutes to say goodbye to everyone.

5 minutes to themselves.

Not nearly enough for everything they wanted to say. Rick quickly said goodbye to Kate's family, then spent the rest of the wait wrapped around her, kissing her lips, her cheeks, her neck, her hands, her shoulders, everywhere he could possibly reach.

'I love you,' he kept whispering, mumbling between the kisses his promises and feelings.

'I'm going to miss you so much,' she whispered back, scattered a few tiny heartfelt kisses along his jaw, stroked her thumbs over his throat, finding his rapid pulse. His hands pressed against her back, dragging her even closer, _how was that even possible_, his eyes filling with hot tears. He drew away from her long enough to look into her eyes and found small droplets travelling down her cheeks, her eyes so moist he was sure she couldn't see a thing. She started shaking and pulled him into a kiss, her tongue blissfully mixing the salt of his tears with the salt of hers. Her arms wound around his neck, her mouth disengaging from his. She sobbed quietly into his shoulder as they hugged tightly and he let out all his frustration, held her as close as possible.

He loved her so much.

And because he knew she loved him back just as much, his heart literally hurt because he had to leave her.

Now, when they were doing so good, when they just started to enjoy life and delve even deeper into their relationship.

He needed her as much as she needed him and that broke his heart.

They were soaked with the rain, but didn't even care.

'I'm so sorry,' he kept saying, his voice breaking on every single syllable.

And she shook even harder in his arms.

'I love you, I love you, I love you,' she told him, then knocked their mouths together, their teeth clashing in the process. It was a messy kiss, but they were tired and sad and angry and crying.

'Don't go. Please, don't go. Please don't leave me,' he heard her beg against his mouth and he pulled her into him, cradled her head in the palm of his left hand, leaning her against his shoulder.

'I'm sorry,' he murmured into her hair.

'_I need you_,' she replied, her voice breaking on the middle word. She let out a helpless cry as her body shook with spasms. She was going to break apart when he leaves. She was going to get even a bigger mess than now and Rick knew it. He didn't want to leave her. Every cell in his body was refusing to part from her when the guys from the CIA and his father stood close to them and told them they had to separate now, because they're leaving in a minute.

Kate clinged only tighter to his body, her nails digging into the nape of his neck. He was sure she was going to leave marks, but he wanted them, wanted them to be the reminder of her, something from her that would last at least for some days. So he pressed into her hipbones with his thumbs to mark her, to give her a chance to have the last something of him. He crushed his mouth to hers for the last time, bit down on her lip hard enough to draw blood, heard her gasp and her whole body shake, then soothed over it with his tongue. With a last gentle kiss against her red, swollen lips, he pulled away from her, took three quick and giant steps back with tears in his eyes, her hands holding on to his arms. Jim and Johanna held Kate back as she kicked and screamed, not wanting to let go, and two men in black suits pried her fingers away from Rick.

She screamed, a long and painfully ripping 'No!' and the force of her sobs made her sag in her parents' arms. He almost stepped forward to take hug her again, but the men held him back and pushed him toward the black car.

Thank God that this was happening on an abandoned pier, otherwise a lot of people would see the commotion and hear Kate's screams as she tried to free herself from Jim and Johanna's grasp.

He was pushed into the car, the men stepping in with him, just as Kate escaped her parents and ran toward the car, trying to stop it. The agent in the front seat who was driving, took off, leaving behind a crying Kate, begging, screaming for him to come back to her.

He wanted to puke.

This was the last time he would see her. At least for a while.

And it hurt like hell.

* * *

><p><strong>I'M SO SORRY, I KNOW I'M EVIL. :(<strong>

**_SPOILER ALERT HERE! DON'T READ WHAT'S BELOW THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT SPOILERS FOR THIS STORY!_**

**I want to tell you guys, that they are in fact being separated, yes. Rick IS REALLY going to move to New York and Kate is going to be left alone in Berkeley. **

**I want to tell you this, too. Rick won't come running back to Kate from New York and Kate isn't going to come looking for him there.**

**Their relationship is going to get even more strained. **

**There will be some doubts.**

**There will be fights. Angry tears.**

**There will be jealousy.**

**And there will be lots and lots of angst.**

**But guess what, my dears...**

**ONLY IN THE NEXT TWO CHAPTERS (think of it kind of as a two-parter), CHAPTER 20 WILL MOST PROBABLY BE A REUNION, BUT WHO KNOWS IN WHAT WAY, ARE THEY STILL GOING TO BE TEENAGERS OR WILL SEVERAL YEARS PASS BY AND WILL THEY MEET WHEN BECKETT IS ALREADY A COP AND RICK IS A BESTSELLING AUTHOR?**

**Well, that's all up to me and I know exactly where I'm taking this and how I'm going to finish it (chapter 20 will most probably be the last one, although I might do a sequel if people are interested), but I'm not telling you more than this. **

**I hope you liked this chapter and I hope I didn't scare you away with all the angst that will be following this.**

**I also hope that you guys didn't cry too hard, because I'd hate to be responsible for your families to think you're an emotional wreck.**

**Well...**

**I love you all! **

**Ariela**


	18. Chapter 18

**Woop woop! My uploads are getting better! :D Anyways, I got to warn you there's a lot of angst in here andsome Hurt/Comfort and some MORE ANGST. Anyway, it's really angsty. I'm sorry for any broken hearts this chapter may cause. I hope you won't give up on me. **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 18: I THINK I SAW YOU IN MY SLEEP DARLING, I THINK I SAW YOU IN MY DREAMS<strong>

* * *

><p><em>'Cause I'll doze off safe and soundly,<em>

_But I'll miss your arms around me._  
><em>I'd send a postcard to you dear,<em>  
><em>'Cause I wish you were here.<em>

_I'll watch the night turn light blue._  
><em>But it's not the same without you,<em>

_Because it takes two to whisper quietly,_  
><em>The silence isn't so bad,<em>  
><em>Till I look at my hands and feel sad,<em>  
><em>'Cause the spaces between my fingers<em>  
><em>Are right where yours fit perfectly.<em>

_Owl City – Vanilla Twilight_

* * *

><p>It had been a week since that fateful day. A week since Kate could feel his touch, his fingers against her cheek, his lips on hers.<p>

It had been a week since Kate has been able to sleep through the night without waking up at early hours from a nightmare.

It had been a week.

7 days.

168 hours.

It had been too long.

Kate spent the hours after Rick's departure curled up in her mother's arms on the couch, silently sobbing into her sweater. She fell asleep from exhaustion sometime in the middle of the night, with her mom brushing a hand through her hair while watching re-runs of _Friends_.

In the early morning, Johanna woke up from her own slumber by Kate who was thrashing around, her legs kicking, her mouth screaming for Rick. Johanna tried to calm her down, but she kept pleading with her to just let her go after him. After Kate experienced another panic attack and collapsed in front of the couch, Johanna had to call Rick to tell him to talk to her.

'She's a mess, Rick. You have to talk to her, calm her down. She won't listen to me.'

'Okay. Give her to me,' he replied, lying on his new bed in his new house in New York City. He hated it here. It was too loud and too crowdy. He wanted to go back to Berkeley.

'Rick?' he heard a faint, groggy voice over the line and he almost started crying.

'Good morning, beautiful,' he breathed, his heart almost leaping out of his chest with the force it took from him to stop himself from running away back to Berkeley.

'_Rick_,' she cried out and then he heard a choked sob escape her throat. His stomach turned over at the sound, knowing he's hurting her so much.

'Kate, you have to calm down.'

'I _can't_.'

'It's gonna be fine, we're gonna be fine, okay?'

'No, Rick, it's not – it's not fine if you're so far away from me. I can't –' She whimpered and he heard her sob into the receiver. His own eyes gave way and tears streaked down his cheeks.

'Don't cry, baby.'

'Rick…'

'Kate, I'm always there, okay? I'm always there with you. I'm there in your heart. And you're always in mine. We're never apart.'

'But we are. I can't even see you right now,' she said, her voice so broken it broke Rick, too.

'We'll see each other later. On Skype. I promise I'll call you later, okay? I promise, sweetheart.'

'It won't be the same. It won't – I won't be able to touch you.'

'We'll pretend like it's possible,' he growled, his own voice straining against the lump in his throat.

'We both know it isn't,' she whispered quietly.

'Just pretend. That's all we have for now, Kate.'

'I don't want to pretend. I want to be able to be with you for real.'

'Just a couple of months, Kate. Just a couple of months.'

'I'm going crazy and you've only been gone for 10 hours.' Damn it, she had to stop saying those things to him, it was making him angry at his own family.

'Me too.' There was a terrifyingly silent pause and then suddenly she spoke, so resignated and pained.

'I miss you.'

'I miss you more than you know, Kate,' he replied, his hand scrubbing down his face.

'Stop making me cry,' she jokingly half-laughed, but it was too fake for him to even believe it. A sad smile appeared on his face as he closed his eyes and prayed to God to please just let him see her soon.

'I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, Kate.'

'Don't. I'm going to cry again and I'm ba – barely hanging on, Rick,' she told him, her voice breaking mutiple times. He could her the strain, how much it took her not to let the tears or the sobs escape her again. He could almost see her body curled up on that sofa they spent the day after their first kiss on, her chest spasming with unreleased sobs.

'I love you,' he whispered and that's all it took for her to break again.

First week was like that. Phone calls and skype calls and everywhere they could reach each other. Kate still wasn't attending school because she was too exhausted in the morning to even stand up, let alone concentrate on studying. She didn't tell Rick about her sleeping problems, didn't tell him about several panic attacks she had had, didn't tell him about her mother making her go visit the psychatrist who once talked with her about anorexia two years ago. She didn't tell him how she barely ate anything, how she lost weight again, how her mom and dad got scared she might get sick again. She kept it all away from him, listened to his stories of his new school, new schoolmates, new neighbourhood, New York City. She listened to the tales he'd wind about them two, fairytales he'd thought of when he wasn't able to fall asleep.

And she lied to him when he asked her if she's sleeping okay, right after he'd noticed the bags under her eyes when they chatted on Skype one night.

She didn't tell him anything.

* * *

><p>And so the first month had passed with their usual routine. They had to organize when to call because they were in different time zones and it was so hard for both of them. 12 days after Rick's departure, Kate went back to school, only to face her schoolmates' questions about her boyfriend, her friends' pitying looks and everything she'd always hated about losing someone.<p>

32 day after Rick had gone away, he finally confronted her about the way she looked.

'Kate, you look like a ghost. Do you even sleep at all?' He asked her, looked at her on the screen of his laptop. She was pale and thinner than when he left, and she was thin even before he had left, so this wasn't even remotely good.

When she shook her head in answer to his question, he drew in a sharp breath and felt the tears sting in his eyes.

'You have to sleep, Kate. This isn't good for you.' He saw her fiddling with the hem of her (it used to be his) t-shirt as she shrugged.

'I can't sleep.'

'Why not?' he demanded, voice strong and unwavering. She lifted her eyes up and looked at the monitor and he saw the defeat in there.

'The nightmares. I have nightmares.' She – she had _nightmares_? And she didn't even think about telling him that sooner?

'How long have you had them, Kate?'

'Since the night you went.' He sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. She was in so much pain all this time and he couldn't even make it better because he didn't know.

'Did Johanna –'

'I went to see my old psychatrist. He gave me some sleeping pills, but they're not helping. I can't go to sleep, I can't close my eyes without seeing you, being so happy without me on the other side of the country.'

'Kate, you know I can't be happy without you.'

'But you are. The way you tell me about your schoolmates and your neighbour Tony and late night talks with your dad, that's not sadness Rick, that's happiness, so much happiness.'

'I'm not happy, Kate. God, believe me when I say that I can't be without you. You're my happiness, my whole world, I can't even be myself around here, because I'm not with you and I need you.' Her lips shook as she nodded slowly.

'It's okay. I want you to be happy. But it would be even better if you were happy with me.'

'Kate –'

'I've lost weight. My parents are afraid I'm going to starve myself again until I can't take it anymore.' He gaped at her even as it registered in his brain: she was going to become anorexic again. She had to stop.

'You don't –'

'I'm not doing this on purpose. I don't have the will to eat anything, I'm not even hungry.'

'Kate, stop. You have to stop with this. You have to get your health back and this isn't healthy.'

'Funny. Everyone keeps saying that lately, but I don't care,' she gritted out.

'I care!' he half-yelled in the camera and then ran a hand through his hair, sighing in defeat.

'Kate, please, just stop doing this to yourself. You're hurting.'

'I'm so broken, Rick. Leave me be.'

'No. I want to fix you,' he said sternly, then wiped away the tear that slid down his cheek. Kate bit her lip to stop herself from crying, then slowly shook her head with a frown on her face.

'I don't think you can, Rick.'

* * *

><p>After six months and thousands of phone calls and texts, Rick still couldn't come back to Berkeley. He sent a package to Kate for her birthday and he even considered running away from his so-called-home and back to her to surprise her. Arthur figured him out before he could even think of his first step.<p>

'You can't, son,' he said, saddly shaking his head at him.

'What are you talking about?'

'You can't run away. Don't even think about it. It'll just last for a little while, we're so close to finishing this operation. Just a few months.'

'You said three months. Before we left, you said three months. It's been six, dad. And I still haven't seen Kate.'

'Good things are worth waiting for,' his father had replied, then walked away to leave him standing in front of the window.

Kate had gotten better over the course of those six months. She gained back her weight, mostly with help of her friends and Rick's words. She was sleeping better now. Most nights she slept through, but sometimes she woke after an awful nightmare, either Rick kissing another girl, or Rick talking to another girl or just Rick telling her he doesn't love her anymore, that he never did. Those were the worst nights. She told Rick about her nightmares, what they were about and he cried so openly on the camera in front of her that she felt her chest constrict.

'How could you even think for a moment that I don't love you, Kate? How could you think that I'd ever touch another girl when you're all I want? I love you, Kate. Please stop, because I'm not going to replace you, okay? I'm so sorry if I made you doubt me. I'm so sorry, God I'm sorry,' he told her, repeating his apologies so many times, Kate had to calm him down. That made her nightmares not hurt so much.

When she got a package from him for her birthday and she saw it was one of his t-shirts and his blue cardigan (the one she had on the day they kissed), his scent all over them, she didn't want to ever let them go, because it would mean letting him go. She also got a small jewelry box, like the ones that had a ring in it and sure enough, this beautiful blue, velvet box had a silver ring in it, but instead of a diamond, there was a word engraved in the shiny surface.

_Always_, it said.

When she called him and asked him about what the ring was supposed to mean, he laughed into the phone and answered warmly.

'It's just to make sure everybody knows you're mine. And it's also something to last until I can give you the real deal someday in the future. You know, when we're older and stuff.' It made her heart burst in her chest and even though she had wondered sometimes in the past two months if she still loves him, this had proven her that _yes, _she still loves him, now even more than ever. Even if they didn't talk as much as they used to the first few months, she was still falling for him, and she was falling _hard_.

* * *

><p>One time, they had a fight over a picture of Rick and one of his friends that was posted on Facebook and it just happened that the friend was a female and a blonde.<p>

He had to assure to Kate that he wasn't interested in her in any way, that she was still the only one he could think about.

Sometime later, Rick spotted a picture of Kate and Josh in a side-hug that someone had posted on Facebook and he went mad, called Kate in the middle of the night and told her to explain it to him. She told him that Josh had actually gotten better since Rick had left, that he was a good friend of hers now, but that was all they were; just friends. He was apparently together with Madison and they were happily in love.

* * *

><p>'I miss you so much,' Kate whispered into her phone and heard him sigh on the other end.<p>

'Yeah. I miss you, too.'

'You really do?' she asked, just in case. She had a feeling like he was keeping something from her lately, like he was pulling away from her and she didn't like it. At all.

'You know I do, Kate.'

'Then why do you always sound like I'm such a bother to you?'

'Always? Bother? Kate, what are you –'

'Lately you've been pulling away. You don't tell me you love me as much as you used to. Do you not love me as much as you used to, Rick? Is that it?'

'You know it's not, Kate.'

'No. I don't know. That's the whole deal.'

'Well, I love you. Okay? I love you so much it's making my head hurt. And it's been hurting for so long now, I just want it to stop. I'm so tired, Kate. Tired of missing you, tired of not being able to hold you.' Kate turned her face into a pillow and pressed her teeth together.

'I'm tired too, Rick.'

'I just need you. I need to be with you again.' At these words, a thought popped into Kate's head. They were trying so hard to make this work, but it just wasn't.

'Maybe you need to not be with me anymore instead.' He went silent on the other end. She couldn't even hear him breathing until he took a deep breath and erupted.

'Are you kidding me?'

'No.'

'What the hell are you saying?'

'Maybe we should end this, Rick. We're both suffering and this isn't –'

'No, no, no, no, stop right there. I'm not going to just throw this away. I've been trying so hard. Don't make me do that, Kate. Don't make me let go of you. I can't.'

'Maybe we've been trying too hard, Rick.'

'I love you, Kate. I love you, okay?'

'I love you too, but that's tearing us apart.'

'What are you trying to tell me? I don't understand you.'

'We should take a break. I don't know if this is healthy for us anymore.'

'But we've been doing good, Kate. It's just the school's end is nearing and we're both under a lot of stress.'

'It's not just that and you know it. It's been building up for months, Rick.'

'Kate, I can't not be with you.'

'I can't not be with you either, but we're going to have to learn how to do it anyway.' He choked back the sob threatening to escape him and instead used his cold, steely tone of voice.

'Fine. We'll do it your way. But I'm not going to stop missing you or loving you. Not now, not ever. Just remember this, Kate. I love you. And I'm not going anywhere. I'll be waiting for you.'

And then he hung up.

And Kate cried. She cried until she fell asleep, because this wonderful boy had promised to wait for her and she was a bitch and told him they needed to end, when she knew he was all she had ever wanted. She was just so sick of wanting and not getting it that she acted on impulse, but just now when she thought about it, she realized how wrong this all was, what a mistake she did. She wanted him back, but she didn't want to call him, so she settled with the knowledge that she'd only hurt more if they kept up the pace they had going on. And besides, he was a big boy, he'd get over it, over her.

And that thought ripped her apart.

**I'M SO SORRY! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. I HAVE PLANS FOR THESE TWO, JUST PLEASE DON'T KILL ME BEFORE I WRITE ANOTHER CHAPTER! YOU'LL SEE IT'S NOT SO BAD. THEY'RE STILL MADLY IN LOVE AND RICK ISN'T GIVING UP ON HER SO EASILY AND WHO KNOWS, MAYBE I HAVE SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN STORE FOR THEM THAN WHAT I HAD TOLD YOU I'D DO WITH THEM :D JUST WAIT AND SEE, please.**

**Review and tell me what you thought? AND SERIOUSLY, DON'T CRY, THAT'S NOT MY INTENTION! **

**Ariela**


	19. Chapter 19

**Wow, seriously, what's going on with me, this is like two nights in a row, wow. **

**Seeeeeee, I told you guys that reviews make me write faster! I literally feed on them, haha. :D **

**So, I hope you guys will be happy with how this one turned out and that I didn't kill anybody's expectations.**

**No, they don't reunite in this chapter yet. **

**Just read andd find out what happens, then. I won't hold you back anymore now, ENJOY, PLEASE! (:**

**CHAPTER 19: DID I SAY THAT I NEED YOU, DID I SAY THAT I WANT YOU, OH IF I DIDN'T I'M A FOOL YOU SEE**

* * *

><p><em>And I looked for you then in music and song,<em>

_'cause I thought I could find you there._

_They were only notes pulled from the air,_

_not the kind I could read or breathe if I dare._

_Great Lake Swimmers – Where In The World Are You_

* * *

><p>'She had nightmares again yesterday, Rick. You two need to talk,' Johanna tried to convince him to call her daughter. They hadn't talked in two weeks and it was slowly killing him. And as much as her mother had told him, it was taking its toll on her, too.<p>

'I told her I'd wait for her. Until she's ready.'

'She told me she wants you back. That she made a mistake. You need to talk things out with her.'

'I want to, but I promised I would wait. She'll contact me once she's ready.'

'What if she doesn't contact you?'

'Then it means she's moved on. And I'll try to get over her, even if I know that's beyond possible.'

* * *

><p>Kate thought she'd be able to hold on without him. That she'd be able to go on without him. But she was hurting, even more than when he left Berkeley. They hadn't talked in two weeks and she missed his voice and his words. She needed him to reassure her they'll see each other again, that that day is coming closer. She needed him more than she needed air.<p>

When she broke up with him, thinking it would make them both hurt less, she only hurt herself even more. Because she couldn't even imagine her life without him in it anymore. He was a part of her now and he held her heart in his hands.

'You did _what _now!?' Lanie asked, incredolous, as Kate told her about their break-up two days after it happened.

'I had to, Lanie. We were both in so much pain because of the distance and tired and always thinking about the next time we'd hear each other. It was hurting us too much.'

'Girl, if you don't get your shit together, _I'm _gonna hurt you.'

'Lanie –'

'No, no, no. He told you he'd wait for you right?'

'Yeah, but –'

'No buts, Kate. He is waiting for you. He's waiting for you to be ready. Do you even realize how hard it is to find someone like that? You should be all over him, not breaking up with him.'

'I could be all over him if he weren't thousands of miles away.'

'That shouldn't stop you.'

'Lanie,' Kate sighed, interrupting their feverish little chat with a quiet exhalation.

'I know you're not okay with being without him, Kate. I know you aren't okay with him being so far away. I can understand that, I'd be the same if it were like that with me and Javi. But you can't just break up with him because you _think it's not working_, damn it. He's put so much of himself into this relationship and you did, too. You shouldn't let your mind win over your heart.' Kate nodded and with shaky lips, she replied, her words a whisper.

'I know.' She was swept up in a hug by Lanie's arms and she found the warmth in there. At least for a little while. Then she was going to go back home and call Rick, tell him she did a mistake.

'You can do this, Kate. I know you can,' Lanie murmured and tightened her hold on Kate.

Thank God for best friends.

* * *

><p>Rick was playing his guitar like always after school, making up songs about Kate, writing the lyrics and then the melodies and he could pretty much already have a whole album if he wanted to, he had that much songs.<p>

His phone rang on the nightstand and he picked it up, thinking it was his schoolmate wanting to go hang out, but he froze immediately after he saw the caller ID.

It was her.

She was calling him.

After 14 days, she was finally calling him. He just hoped he knew what she wanted this time.

'Kate,' he breathed, heard the intake of breath on the other side of the phone.

'Hey,' she half-whispered, and he could almost see her, the way her eyelashes swept against her cheeks and the sharp line of her jaw, her rosy lips just wanting to be kissed –

'I'm – I'm sorry, is this a bad time?' She snapped him out of his daydreaming.

'Yeah – no, no. It's fine, I'm – it's okay.'

'Okay.' There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Rick spoke up.

'So, how's the gang? Are they all okay?' Kate breathed out a sigh, relieved she was able to talk about something other than _them_.

At least for now.

'Yeah, they're fine. Lanie and Javier are really happy together and Kev and Jen are having their 17 month anniversary tomorrow.'

'Oh wow, that's – that's a lot.'

'Yeah, it is.'

'I've always thought we could last that long too, even longer,' he couldn't help but voice his thoughts and she stopped breathing on the other end. Then she spoke, so quiet and fast and breathless that he almost didn't hear her.

'I've always thought that, too.'

'I don't get it, Kate. Why did you give up on us, then?' he asked her, feeling bolder by her admission and even just the sound of her voice, his courage returning.

'I didn't.'

'You broke up with me.'

'And I'm so sorry about that.'

'How sorry? The I'm-sorry-I-broke-your-heart-but-this-just-wasn't-working kind of way or I'm-sorry-I-made-a-mistake-and-I-hope-we-still-have-a-chance kind of way?'

'None of them.' Okay, now he was confused. Those were the only two ways which he could remember that even made sense.

'What then? Can you at least tell me and explain it to me?'

'Can I ask you something first?'

'Yes.' Kate took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then pressed her phone even closer to her ear.

'Do you still love me?' He gave a short laugh and then she heard him sigh quietly. She thought that he'd gotten over her, the way he just laughed.

'That's a silly question, Kate.'

'Oh, well –'

'Of course I still love you. I love you more and more every day. I wake up and you're settled down even deeper in my heart than you were when I went to bed the night before. I can't get you out. And I'm not even trying to.'

'Rick,' she cried out, her eyes moist and tears threatening to fall. She missed his words and she missed his confessions of love and she wanted it all back. She just –

'I just want you back,' she told him her feet curling against the sheets she was lying on, her hand shaking against her forehead.

'I want you back, too,' he replied, his own voice shaking and she let a choked laugh escape her clogged throat.

'I'm sorry I broke up with you. That was the biggest mistake of my life.'

'I'm sorry I didn't call back, try to convince you more.'

'It was not your fault.'

'We were both guilty. I think I let people here get to me too easily. I let them change me and I didn't spend so much time focusing on you as I did before and I'm… I'm really sorry for that, Kate. That's the main reason why we got so distant. But I can't live without you. God help me, but I can't.'

'I can't live without you either. And I love you so much.'

'Kate…'

'I want you, Rick. Only you. And I don't care how long it takes for you to get back to me, as long as I get to see you again, I'm going to invest everything I am into this relationship. I'm all in, Rick. I'm so sorry if I ever made you doubt that.' A single tear escaped Rick's eye and he wiped it away with his hand, sniffled and smiled, for the first time in two weeks.

'I love you, Kate. And I'm not letting you go ever again.'

* * *

><p>'Kate, I have wonderful news!'<p>

'Rick?' He just called her out of the blue and told her he had news. Huh. What could they be?

'You want the bad one or the good one first?'

'Umm…I don't know, the good one?'

'I may be coming home soon!' he exclaimed happily and Kate's mouth fell open in shock.

'What? You're coming back to Berkeley? When?' she asked him, already excited and eager to see him, to touch him, kiss him.

'Well, that's the bad news. Dad said it might take a few more months, so it's not really that soon. But at least I'm coming back, right? I'm coming back and that's sure.'

'That's good news, Rick. Even if it takes you another year, which I beg you, _please don't stay there for another year_, I'll be here waiting for you.'

'Thank you, Kate. For everything. I'm so lucky to have you.'

'No, _I'm _lucky to have _you_.'

'You want to start our war again?' Kate laughed into the receiver and Rick bathed in it, such freedom in her voice.

'You know I'll win again,' Kate warned, dropping her voice for a few tones and Rick groaned on the other side.

'Okay, fine, fine. I admit, you're way better at this than I am.'

'Thank you,' she said, pressed her tongue to her teeth.

'By the way, I still love you more than you love me.'

'Oh it's _on_, writer-boy.'

* * *

><p>'It's awful here without you.'<p>

'Yeah, Seattle sucks without you, too.'

'Didn't you tell me you were going to your grandparents' cabin?'

'Yeah, near Seattle, but I go into the town sometimes. Anyways, it sucks because most of the time I have nothing to do except carp-fishing. And that's really not one of my biggest talents.'

'Oh come one, you have many, _many _talents.'

'Well, turns out carp-fishing's not one of them. Surprise!' she said sarcasticly and Rick laughed on the other side.

'I love it when you're being sarcastic.'

'Yeah, yeah, I got that from you, Mister.'

'Really?'

'No.' He laughed again and she grinned, bit her lips when she heard him exhale, wished that she could feel his breath against her mouth.

'Florida's not as interesting as it looks on brochures.'

'You've always talked about how much you love Miami.'

'Yeah, but the humidity is just _awful _here. I wasn't used to New York weather and now I'm not used to Miami weather.'

'You'll be fine, you big baby.'

'I'm not a baby.'

'I know. I just like teasing you, honey.'

'I love it when you call me honey.'

'I know, babe.'

'And when you call me babe.'

'Okay, now you're just fishing for cute little nicknames.'

'You saying you don't like to call me that?'

'Oh no, I _love _calling you that,' she murmured in a flirting voice, then laughed when he groaned.

'You're gonna be the death of me, Katherine Beckett.'

'Better me than someone else. You better not be looking at too many bikini-topless young girls at the beach, _honey_.'

'Only you, Kate. Only you.'

'Good.'

* * *

><p>She got a package somewhere in the middle of August with a little black book in there and a CD.<p>

She recognized the black notebook as the one Rick carried around, the one he was always writing something in, scribbling down. She always wanted to know what. And now that she opened it and read the first page, a dedication, her heart flipped in her chest and she cried tears of joy.

**HER BLINDING LIGHT**

Story by Richard Alexander Rodgers

_For Kate._

_Thank you for being my inspiration throughout this year._

_Thank you for not breaking my legs when I called you my muse._

_And thank you for letting me love you._

Kate flipped to the next page and started to read. Soon, she had read all of the story. It was the original, written with pen, and it was a romantic drama, not the kind Rick liked to write the most. But it was so beautiful. There were whole sentences and passages crossed, thoughts written on the side of the pages. This was his love letter to her and he couldn't had written it better.

As she listened to the cd, she heard his voice first, explaining that these are _his _songs and that she inspired him so much. Then he began playing and singing and Kate cried again. He was beautiful and she was sure that she didn't deserve him.

But as she called him and half-cried, half-laughed into the receiver, thanked him over and over again, he told her that he had never felt this way about anybody and that she is his absolute number one inspiration. He told her that he loved her and that whenever she feels too tired of missing him, she has to listen to this cd or read a few pages of his book.

She did that the first week. She read the book four times and listened to Rick's music so much, the neighbors literally came knocking at the door, complaining about the insistant noise.

But she didn't care.

She was more in love than ever and it didn't even matter how many miles there were between them, because they loved each other and that was all that was important, everything that counted.

**So, what do you guys think? :D **

**There will be a reunion in the next chapter, yes, as I promised. **

**I wanted to reunite them over the summer already, but I tried to hold back and follow the show's symbolism kinda, so I made them spend the summer without each other. But not like they didn't make up after two weeks of being apart. Of course, they love each other very much so that was the only option I had.**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this one, and please tell me your thoughts, I always love to read what you think! **

**P.S. SERIOUSLY AROUND 13 DAYS LEFT UNTIL CASTLE S5 PREMIERE, I'M HYPERVENTILLATING, SOMEONE HELP ME, OH MY GOD AND ALL THOSE SPOILERS, I CAN'T EVEN AFNAISFASOASAFBAKSBGASGKABRJ G...**

**Okay now, I'll leave you to review this story. Thank you!**

**Ariela**


	20. Chapter 20

**The last one in the story... **

**I hope you guys like it. **

**CHAPTER 20: LIGHTS WILL GUIDE YOU HOME AND IGNITE YOUR BONES**

'So, how's Rick?' Kate looked up away from her book to Lanie and grinned.

'He's fine, we're – we're okay.' She knew Lanie was just fishing for some information about their relationship status and that's why she asked Kate about Rick. But she didn't mind, really.

'I'm glad to hear that. Do you know when's he coming back to Berkeley?'

'No, nothing solid,' Kate sighed and marked the page in the book with a tea spoon she used for ice cream earlier.

'Oh. But, he _is _coming back, right?'

'Oh yeah. He is. May just take a few more months, but he's coming back,' Kate told her, already impatient for the day to come.

'Well at least there's that,' Lanie said.

They were both resting in Kate's backyard, talking and laughing or just sitting quietly. It was the day before the last day of summer, and both were more than happy to spend it with their best friend. Seeing as it was school the day after tomorrow, they agreed to do nothing but relax and have fun. Then, after dinner, the whole gang was going out to the seaside and spending the night there.

Kate missed Rick, missed him next to her while chatting with their friends, missed him next to her in Remy's, missed him next to her on her bed. But she at least knew that he was coming back, so it wasn't as tough as it used to be.

Just then, Kate's phone rang and she picked it up immediately, knowing it was Rick who was calling her.

'Hi,' she greeted warmly and heard him laugh on the other side.

'Hello to you too, beautiful.'

'How are you?' she asked, eager for him to tell her about his day, about what he had been doing in New York.

'I'm great, actually. You?'

'Me too.'

'Hey, I was wondering, are you still going to that party at the seaside tonight?'

'Yeah, we are. Why?'

'Just asking, so I know if I can call or not.'

'You can always call, Rick. You know that,' she replied seriously and he chuckled.

'I know. But I won't bother you tonight, you should hang out with others, have a good time. Just try not to do anything stupid, 'kay?' Kate laughed and watched Lanie smirk next to her.

'Oh please, Richard. You know I'm a good girl.' She thought she heard him whisper 'oh God' and then he exhaled shakily and she let the laughter out again.

'You're so easy,' she said breathlessly and he sighed.

'It's just what you do to me, baby. Just what you do to me.'

'So, are you going out tonight, too?'

'Yeah, we'll probably hit the party around here somewhere, too.'

'Oh. You will?'

'Yeah. Is that – is that okay with you, or – '

'Yeah, yeah. It's – it's fine, don't worry, just…'

'Just what? I won't get drunk, Kate.'

'I know, not that.'

'I won't cheat on you either.'

'But you're so cute, every girl wants you, Rick,' Kate said desperately, half-joking, half-serious.

'But I only want you.'

'I know,' she smirked and thought of all the girls who envy her.

'So, now that we've cleared that up, when are you guys leaving for the party?'

'We're going to Remy's at seven and then we'll go down to the beach. Probably around eight, something like that.'

'Okay, then I'll give you a call at six? So if we don't hear each other tonight anymore, that I'll at least get to hear your voice.'

'Sure, honey-bear.'

'What did you just call me?'

'Honey-bear.'

'Oh, you're doomed.' Just then Kate's mom called out for Kate and Lanie to come eat some lunch and Kate grinned as she stood up.

'I love you too, sweetie, gotta go, bye-bye!' she said and then hung up on him.

Rick laughed as he found out that she hung up before he could say goodbye too, but then a slow smirk spread across his face, because there was a catch in all this.

He wasn't in New York anymore.

He was already back in Berkeley and he was going to surprise Kate tonight.

He couldn't wait to see her.

* * *

><p>She was just putting on her jeans when her phone rang. It was Lanie.<p>

'Yeah?' she answered breathily.

'Where are you? You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago!'

'I know, I know, I'm sorry. I got...distracted,' she explained and bit her lip, thinking of Rick's voice in her ear and a shiver that shook her when he read the first sentence from his book to her.

'I believe that, now get down here, we're waiting for you.'

'Be there in three!'

She hung up and shrugged her jacket on, then hurried down the stairs and out of the house.

This was going to be an interesting night. She felt that in her bones.

* * *

><p>'Hey, Kate!' Kate turned around quickly upon recognizing the voice and gasped when she saw who it was.<p>

'Oh my God!' She lifted up her hands toward his cheeks and leaned in closer.

'You cut your hair!' she exclaimed and he chuckled, then shrugged.

'Yeah.' Then she stopped examining his appearance and hugged him tightly.

'It's so, _so _good to see you again. I can't wait to tell you everything.'

'It's good to see you too, Kate. And I have a lot to tell you, too.' She stepped back from him then and punched him in the arm with a fist.

'Ow! What was that for!?' he pouted, rubbing his forearm with a hand.

'That was for not telling me you were coming here.'

'But you had to have suspected at least a little bit, haven't you?'

'Mmm, maybe,' she replied, then grinned, all of her pearly whites showing.

'So...'

'So you're back.'

'I am,' he quipped and raised an eyebrow. She laughed and then cleared her throat.

'Well you could tell me all about your trip, _Josh_.' Josh smirked and then opened his mouth to say something, but he apparently noticed something over her shoulder, because he gave her a cheshire grin, winked and with a last quick hug wandered off in the opposite direction, yelling 'Talk to you later, bye!'. And so she furrowed her brows and watched him walk away. Josh and her had really grown close throughout the school year and he left for Europe in the summer and she'd missed him and she really wanted to spend some time with him, but he just left her _alone_?

She heard loud cheers and laughs being exchanged behind her back and she turned around to see what had caused the crowd tobe so loud.

And then she almost had a heart attack.

There, standing amidst all of her – _their _– friends, was Richard Alexander Rodgers, in a green button-down and blue pants, currently shaking hands with a guy named Jackson. His eyes flickered towards to where she was standing and back at Jackson and then back at her again. She saw the moment he noticed her, his mouth falling open, his posture changing all the sudden. He let go of Jackson and everyone quieted down, waiting anxiously for what was going to happen next. Everyone knew what the two of them had to cope with, the distance, all those miles, and apparently everyone also wanted to see the reunion.

She couldn't believe her own eyes. It was really him, it was Rick. She got him back and why wasn't she moving yet?

So she sprinted towards him and he stepped forwards, out of the crowd and their bodies collided, arms swung around necks and torsos and buried into masses of hair. Eyes closed, mouth strained to keep the tortured sobs in, muscles wound up so tight they were having trouble breathing, but they were together again. After 10 months, they could finally touch each other, listen to each other's heartbeats.

As the blood rushed back from their hearts and into their brain, they faintly registered the crowd clapping at the pair and a few suspiciously glassy eyes.

Then they pulled apart.

Only to the extent so that their lips could meet, teeth clashing together in a frenzied hurry to be as close as possible, tongues curling, their entire bodies vibrating with barely restrained energy.

Kate pulled away first, eager to see him, to see his face and all of him.

'It's really you,' she panted, her breath rushing to his mouth, and he nodded, licked his lips and leaned in to kiss her again, this time slow and deliberate and tender. It made her cry.

Rick broke the kiss, holding back his own tears as he noticed a few of Kate's travelling down her cheeks. He stroked her jaw with his fingers and gently wiped away the salty liquid with his thumbs, making her shudder. Kate's teeth dug into her bottom lip as she attempted a watery smile and Rick gave her one of his own charming ones and leaned forward to capture her lips again.

'Hi, beautiful,' he breathed across her lips as he let her go and she chuckled, opened her eyes to gaze at him. He was beautiful, too. Rather dashing in his outfit and also a new haircut. Whew. He must had gotten that done after their last Skype session 3 days ago.

'Hey yourself,' she replied, brushed her thumb over the swell of his lips, her eyes flickering all over his face, trying to memorize its shape again. She hadn't forgotten, of course, but the memory of it was already cloudy in her mind and now that she had the opportunity to touch him again, she wanted to use it as much as possible.

'How are you?' he asked, his eyes twinkling in the dusk. She wrapped her arm around his neck, the other pressed against his sternum, and touched her smile to his.

'Are you kidding me, I'm perfect, how could I not be?' she told him, her words murmured into his mouth and he grinned, smoothed his hands down her back and up under her (one of his actually) cardigan.

'I don't know. Nice surprise?' She shivered as his breath hit the shell of her ear as he whispered the words and he let out a choked laughter, kissed the spot beneath the line where hair met skin.

'Yes. Very nice,' she purred, one of her hands waving into his hair, tugging until his face came back in front of hers and then her mouth was on his again, eager and hot and unrelenting.

Before they could completely forget they were in public and get bored of keeping it PG, they were pulled apart by their friends.

'Damn guys, you'll have all the time for yourselves later,' Javi teased and slapped Rick on the back as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Kate and Rick were now standing a few feet apart and even that was too much of a distance for Kate and as she tried to jump him again, she felt herself being pulled back by Lanie.

'Girl, leave him some alone time with the boys. You can do whatever you want to him later.'

'But Lanie, he – '

'I know he just got back and I know you want to be with him right now, but you're not the only one here who's missed him.' Kate looked after where Rick had disappeared into the crowd and then sighed heavily.

'I know, I realize that. It's just that, we've been apart for so long, Lanie. You've no idea how hard that is.'

'I don't. That's why I'm the one who's keeping you sane and telling you to go talk to Josh. You know you would eventually look for him anyways, Rick or no Rick. He's got stuff to tell you and you got stuff to tell him.'

'Lanie, I don't think – '

'Girl. Now. Go!' Kate exhaled, and with a last look towards the crowd gathered around her boyfriend, shuffled off to find Josh.

* * *

><p>'Kate! I'm here!' She turned around and gave Josh a wide smile.<p>

'Hey! What are you guys doing?'

'Well, we were just about to sit down in front of the fire and roast some marshmallows. Wanna join us?'

'Sure,' she answered enthusiastically and sat down on the blanket next to Josh.

'So, tell me all about your summer,' she probed, making Josh chuckle. He cleared his throat and lifted his hands.

'Well, here's how it is. While I was in Paris, Madison cheated on me.'

'Oh God, Josh. I didn't know, I'm so sorry.'

'No, no. It's fine, actually. Things were heading down the bumpy road the last few weeks anyways. I got mad, of course. But I told her we were through.'

'How did you find out she cheated on you?'

'She uhm... Do you know Tony Koseski?'

'The guy who transffered here last year?'

'Yeah.'

'I do. Did she cheat on you with him!?'

'No, he told me that she cheated on me with Jake, my best friend.'

'Jake Trager?'

'Yeah. So I talked to Jake and he told me he was wasted that night and he doesn't remember a thing and then I didn't even care anymore, told him he was a shitty friend. A few weeks ago, while I was still getting over being cheated on, we were in Ireland and I met a girl there.'

'Oooh, a girl!' Josh laughed and nodded.

'Yes, Kate. Her name is Cinty and she's so beautiful. I don't even know how exactly it happened, but I fell for her. Like, a lot. So we spent an amazing week together, but then I had to go.'

'Oh, the distance,' Kate said sadly and Josh nudged her shoulder.

'Hey, don't worry. We're making it work. And besides, I'm visiting her for Christmas and she's coming here for spring break, so we'll work it out.'

'I really hope you will.'

'Speaking of distance... Where's your boyfriend?'

'He's... here somewhere. Not entirely sure where, though.'

'Are you guys okay?'

'We're more than okay, actually. We're great, but it would be even better if he was with me right now.'

'Go find him.'

'Are you sure?'

'Of course, he's your boyfriend. You've just spent 10 months apart. You should be all over him right now.'

'Oh I will be, don't worry.' Josh laughed as she winked at him and then she stood up, ruffling Josh's hair as she took a step back.

'Thanks, Josh! We'll talk more tomorrow, 'kay?'

'Sure, have fun!'

And off she went, searching for her long-lost boyfriend.

* * *

><p>She found him talking to Kevin and Jenny, his hands making all these gestures and his eyes sparkling. He looked wonderful and happy and she bit her lip, realizing he was actually here, his solid form eager for her touch. And she wanted so badly to have some kind of a physical contact with him. Right now, otherwise she would explode.<p>

So she walked closer and zeroed in on him from behind, her arms wrapping around his waist, her nose and eyes peeking over his shoulder up at him. He smiled warmly at her, leaned down to kiss her until they heard their friends clear their throats and they pulled apart, smiling like idiots.

'Excuse me, Kevin and Jenny. But I think I'll steal him away for a bit, okay?'

'Sure, no problem,' Kevin said mockingly and led Jenny back to the group of people gathered near the main bonfire.

Rick turned around and immediately kissed his girlfriend, tongues smashing together, hands roaming. He lifted her up by her thighs and walked to a more secluded area of the beach, grabbing a blanket from its spot on the ground where no one was currently sitting, putting Kate down on the ground. He arranged the blanket and sat on it, tapped the space next to him for her to join him. She grinned, biting her lip to hold back her smile, but failed, and snuggled in close to his body. He pulled her back against his chest and circled her torso with his arms, their legs entwining. Her head fell back on his shoulder, her eyes closing on instinct. She remembered how it was when they used to sit like this before he went away and how many times she wished she had his warmth near her to stop the coldness of her body in the winter. And she had missed him so much.

'Penny for your thoughts?' he murmured into her hair, his lips pressed against her temple.

'How about a kiss instead?' she replied and opened her eyes, saw him watching her with wide, fascinated eyes.

'Okay. I can go with a kiss,' he said and then kissed her gently, languidly, one of his hands landing on her cheek, the tips of his fingers just barely brushing her hair.

'Yeah, a kiss from you is better than any money,' he said when they pulled apart and she giggled into his shoulder, pressed a kiss to his neck.

'Ditto, big guy.'

'Speaking of big guys, have you talked to Josh yet?' Her head snapped up and she looked at him suspiciously, narrowing her eyes when she saw his head was ducked and that he was picking at loose strings on her cardigan.

'Yes, I have. Why?'

'No reason,' he said and shrugged, eyes still not looking at her, but she caught his chin with her hand and turned his face towards her. She could detect a hint of jealousy in his irises, dark with green little monsters.

'Are you jealous?' she asked him, leveling him with an intense look. He tried to look away but she didn't let him, instead raised her eyebrows in the repeat of her question.

'Of course I am jealous, Kate. How could I not be? You got to spend all the time I was away with him and you became such good friends and... Just to think about you hanging out with him is making my heart hurt,' he confessed finally, the words spilling out of his mouth in a rushed whisper. Her eyes widened at the new-found information and she sighed.

'Rick...' He closed his eyes, let her murmur her name into his cheek over and over again until he calmed down, and the rush of his feelings stopped for a while.

'Rick,' she called out to him again and he snapped back to reality, his eyelids opening on a heavy exhale.

'Yeah. Yeah, I'm here.'

'Listen to me, okay? Josh is a really nice guy, nothing like who he once was. We've gotten pretty close, yeah. But nothing like _that_. He's just a very good friend and I don't think I could ever see him as something more. Plus, he told me he has a girlfriend from England now and he's doing everything possible to keep her. So there's no need to hurt, Rick. Because you're the only one for me, you've always been and you'll always be,' she told him, her palm curling around his neck to make sure he doesn't break eye contact. When she was certain he had heard her out, she flicked her tongue at the seam of his lips, catching his lower one with her teeth as he parted them.

'Kate,' he sighed around her tongue, catching her hair between his fingers, his nose bumping against hers.

'I want you,' she said suddenly, a hoarse groan into his mouth and he gasped, his eyes opening, his mouth pulling away from hers.

'What?' he asked, incredolous.

'I said I want you,' she repeated, turning in his arms so that she could kneel between his legs, her hands bracketing his face, her almost-red lips shivering with the force of holding back. He shivered too, and it was not because of the cool breeze from the ocean, but the effect of the girl currently licking her lips in front of him, tellin him she... WOW.

'Kate, are you – '

'I'm sure, Rick. I want this.' He still looked at her disbelieveing, his eyes dancing between her two dark-green ones.

'But Kate, you – '

'You're back. And I don't want to waste any more time without you. I need you, Rick.'

'I – I don't know what to say,' he breathed, ran one of his hands through his disheveld hair.

'Say yes? Please. You don't know how long I've been waiting for this.'

'Kate, I don't – '

'10 months, Rick. You can't tell me you haven't thought about this.' He bit his lip and then shook his head.

'No, I can't. I have thought about this. A lot. But I want you to be ready, we're – '

'We've been together for almost a year, Rick. It's time. You know it is.' When he still looked in doubts, she backed away from him and brushed a stranded piece of hair behind her ear.

'Or do you not want me anymore?' she asked him so quietly he almost missed it, but he heard and he wasn't about to say yes to _that _silly question.

'Of course I do. Only you. God, you know that, Kate. You know what you do to me.'

'So why not, then?' He contemplated it for a moment and then decided to just go with the flow, letting his heart win the war with his mind.

'I never said no, Kate. I never said no,' he said and crawled towards her, bruising her lips with his kiss.

* * *

><p>'My parents aren't home,' she said as she unlocked her front door, kicking off her shoes. He followed close behind, his lips attached to her neck, sucking with time of her pulse.<p>

'Great,' he growled into her skin, making her shudder. She turned around quickly, dropping her purse to the floor and instead occupying her hands with his hair. They moved throughout the house to the stairs and then he surprised her when he picked her up, making her shriek.

'Rick!' she laughed into his ear and he let out a throaty chuckle, let her down when he got to her room. She found herself immediately pressed into a wall and fumbled to get the doors to close. His thigh was hot and hard between hers, creating delicious friction, burning her all over. She felt warm for the first time since he had left Berkeley. She was shivering, yes, but cold air was definitely not the reason.

Right then, he pressed a bit more into her and she gasped, her eyes falling shut, her nails clawing throught the material of his shirt.

'Rick,' she breathed, her head lolling to the side as pressed his tongue against the tendons of her neck.

'Kate,' he groaned in return and then swept her up and carried her the short distance to her bed. Once they were down, she felt him slowly unzip her cardigan, shrugging her arms out of the offending piece of clothing. The heat from his hands caressed her through the t-shirt she was wearing and then as she discarded that too, it was only his hands on her bare skin, burning trails of fire wherever he touched. His shirt joined her clothing on the floor after a few agonizingly slow seconds and she touched his abdominal muscles, felt them contract under her fingers, his lower body driving into hers. He growled into her mouth, a feral one, so hot it made her moan and drag her nails across his chest, receiving a shiver from him. She grinned, but it dissipated as soon as it appeared, because the next thing she knew, her pants were already falling to the floor and his hand was in her panties.

So, after she fought to keep silent and pushed his hand away in order to get to his own pants, Rick remembered they actually needed protection for this.

'Kate, do you – ' he asked breathily, his chest heaving above hers.

'Yes, top drawer on the left,' she replied with hungry voice, letting her hands squeeze his biceps as he leaned away to take out the little green package.

'Everything is so green tonight,' he said and it made her laugh, her bare chest brushing his in the soft glow of the light above their heads.

'I'm serious, Kate,' he said and winked at her, then decided it's best for her to decide how she wants to do this.

'So, um... How do you – '

'Just give it to me,' she said, her voice half-amused, half-aroused, and teared open the package.

'Kate, are you _really _sure this is what you want?' She almost facepalmed _him_.

'Rick, I told you. I don't just want this, I _need _this. And basically, if you don't give it to me, you're a dead man, Richard Alexander Rodgers,' she said, jokingly the last part, and he gasped in mock-horror.

'You wouldn't!' he joked and she rolled her eyes.

'Rick?'

'Yeah?'

'Stop half-assing this and come closer,' she told him in a stern voice, bossy and _so hot_.

There was no more half-assing that night.

* * *

><p>She woke up with the stream of sunshine rays falling down over her sheet-covered body. She stirred her legs, only to find an ache between her thighs, one she has never felt before. She hissed and turned around to lay on her stomach, thinking about...<p>

Where was he anyway?

Her head shot up from the sinfully-plush pillow and she looked around her room. There were only her clothes scattered over the floor, all of his gone. So she sat up quickly in bed and ran a hand through her mussed hair, trying to figure out where he had gone. She had one of his t-shirts on and a pair of panties, which she put on just before they went to sleep and it all felt so good against her skin. It made her want to smack his head for leaving her alone in bed.

She stood up and wandered down the corridor to the bathroom, looking for him in there.

He wasn't.

So she went downstairs and was met with a scene so domestic it made her insides explode with butterflies.

He was standing over the stove, making pancakes, whistling to himself.

His hair was sticking up at odd angles and his clothes were wrinkled. He flipped the pancake with a flick of his wrist and put it down onto a plate.

And that's when he noticed her. He almost dropped the spatula at the sight of her, standing half-naked in the kitchen, biting her lip in the most adorable of ways. He greeted her with a wide smile as she came close enough to kiss him.

'Hmm, good morning,' he murmured and as she ran her hand over the place where his heart was, she nodded with a graceful smile plastered on her face.

'Good morning, indeed.'

'Are you making pancakes?' she asked, even though she already knew the answer and he chuckled, put down the spatula to press his hands to her shoulder blades.

'Of course I am. Guys told me that it's an edible way of saying, 'Thank you so much for last night'. I think I needed to thank you, don't you?' She bit her lip, shaking her head in disbelief for how cute he was.

'I do think I deserve pancakes, yes. Let's just hope you didn't burn them all.'

'Hey, it's me.'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever,' she mocked and sat down at the table as he brought the plates filled with pancakes to set them down. They dug into the food, both moaning appreaciatively at the taste and the breakfast went by so fast, filled with innuendos and jokes and loving looks.

After they ate and had a mini make-out session against the fridge (during which Kate had almost fallen from his hands a few times), they decided to have a lazy morning in and watch some tv. After finding out that watching tv was boring when you had your loved one beside you, they made out on her couch a bit, too. And after that, their talk ventured into more serious waters.

'I really missed you, you know,' she confessed, closing her eyes when her cheek hit his chest. She was curled into his side on the couch, silently cuddling.

Until now.

'I know. I missed you too,' he sighed and she swore she could feel tears stung behind her eyelids.

'I... It was hell for me. Once you were gone, it was – it was awfull.' Rick squeezed her and pressed his lips to her forehead.

'It was hell for me too, believe me.'

'Those first few weeks... My hands were shaking. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. It took me a while to remember how to breathe on my own,' she choked out, her voice laced with sadness and bad memories and pain and hurt. He felt like a dumbass for ever letting his father take him away from her.

'I'm so sorry, Kate. I'm so sorry.'

'But it also made me stronger. I'm stronger now.'

'Everything you do makes you stronger, Kate. You're the strongest person I know.' She sniffled and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

'But I'm so weak without you,' she told him, sat up to look him in the eyes.

'I'm – I can't be me without you. You make me real,' she whispered, her eyes falling shut as Rick kissed the tears off her face, framing it with his hands.

'I love you, Kate. That's never going to change. Trust me.'

'I love you, too.'

He leaned in to kiss her, their lips so in sync it seemed as though they had been doing this forever, like they had never had to part their ways.

* * *

><p>Later, much, much later, when they had gone through 21 winters in their lives, they were joined in marriage forever, and from their love they had grown seeds of their own making, beautiful children with curly, brown hair and blue and green eyes.<p>

Their love had never stopped.

* * *

><p><strong>The End<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Guys, I'm gonna cry. :(((<strong>

**This is so sad. It's like I'm finishing a certain part of my life with the end of this story. **

**It's so weird, like this story has been like a diary for me, I've written a lot of stuff related to my life in here, but I've... I've never thought I'd become this attached to it and I am kind of sad to have to let it go.**

**There will be sequels to this, of course, just not a lot of them and not so often and not this long. **

**This is huge. I'm ending this 9 months and 2 days after I had started and I feel like I have accomplished something with this. **

**I hope you guys have enjoyed this story as much as I did.**

**And I want to thank you for all your support and love, it means so much to me.**

**Thank you for being a part of this story, a part of my life, for being my faithful companions on this incredible journey.**

**I love you all.**

**Until next time, **

**_Ariela_  
><strong>


	21. SEQUEL ALERT

Hi everyone!  
>I'm sorry to disappoint if you though that this was another chapter of HSL, but don't worry. This is basically just an alert for you to keep your heads up for High School Love sequel, which I have just set out to write and will be coming out in a few days - and it's gonna be multi-chapter! :D<br>I promised you I'd do this, and that's why I didn't back off, even though I'm really late, because it's been more than a year since I've finished HSL, but I'm here and God, it feels amazing to write for HSL universe again.

I'd appreciate it if you checked it out, and thanks for all the support you've given me through these years.

Ariela


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